KATHMANDU, March 8: A day after Sher Bahadur Deuba won the party president post, Shashank Koirala and Sita Devi Yadav from the establishment faction were elected as general secretary and treasurer respectively of the Nepali Congress (NC) on Tuesday.
NC founding leader BP Koirala’s son Shashank was elected as general secretary securing 1,417 votes beating his nearest rival by 400 votes. Arjun Narsingh KC, from the Deuba panel, got 1017 votes and the third contestant, Gagan Thapa, got 584 votes.
Special general convention of the party will be held after elec...
Thapa, who is married to KC’s daughter, was the NC leader to secure the highest votes to become the party’s central committee member in the 12th general convention in 2010. KC had secured the second highest votes then.
Defeating the outgoing treasurer Chitra Lekha Yadav by just eight votes, Sita Devi Yadav bagged the post of treasurer. Sita Devi secured 1217 votes while Chitra Lekha got 1209 votes.
Chitra Lekha was the only leader from Deuba panel to get elected as office bearer in the previous general convention. But she faced defeat against Sita Devi, who is the wife of an NC leader murdered by Maoists during the insurgency era. Other two contenders for the post, Umakanta Chaudhari and Krishna Karki, secured 457 and 66 votes respectively.
Speaking to journalists after announcement of her victory, Sita Devi said her victory was an honor to the martyrs. “Financial transparency, implementation of new constitution and amendment of the new constitution to address Madhes crisis will be my priority,” she said. When asked about election from two different panels in the office bearers’ posts, she said that being from different panels wouldn’t deter her from performing her duty. “I hope everyone will love and respect me in the party and cooperate with me,” said Yadav.
Vote counting of the posts of general secretary and treasurer had begun only after the counting of the party president. The counting of vote of the central committee members will begin from 10 am Wednesday, informed the election committee member Gopal Krishna Ghimire.
Shashank Koirala, new general secretary
Maintaining the legacy of the Koirala family within the Nepali Congress, Shashank Koirala has been elected general secretary of the party at its 13th general convention.
Shashank is the youngest son of BP Koirala, one of the founders of the Nepali Congress and the country’s first elected prime minister. Shashank was born on October 24, 1958. He spent his early childhood in Biratnagar, but the Koirala family was forced into exile after King Mahendra brought in the Panchayat System and jailed BP Koirala. Shashank had his school education in the Indian cities of Patna, Delhi and Darjeeling. He remained in exile for almost 19 years, along with other members of the Koirala family.
He has completed post-graduate studies in medicine and is a well-known ophthalmologist. He served at Tribhuwan University Teaching Hospital for a long time.
The family’s political background influenced Shashank and he was always close to the party although he practiced medicine as a career. He participated actively in the popular movement of 1990 and was sent to prison for some time.
His active political career began from the 10th general convention of the Nepali Congress, which elected him a central committee member. The 11th and 12th general conventions gave continuity to Shashank’s political career, electing him central committee member on both occasions.
Shashank was jailed for some time in 2006 also during the second popular movement. He was twice elected a Constituent Assembly member from Constituency No 1 of Nawalparasi, in 2008 and 2013. Shashank has never lost an election.
After Sushil Koirala passed away on the eve of the 13th general convention, the establishment faction of the party and the Koirala family picked Shashank as a candidate for the position of general secretary, to carry forward the legacy of the family and the party.
New treasurer Sita Devi Yadav
She had joined the party in 1989 under the influence of her husband but she remained a low-profile cadre until the Maoists killed him. Following the tragic incident, Sita Devi jumped into active politics. She was elected party district committee president twice. She was the only woman to win a district committee presidency in the party from the 12th general convention.
She was elected Constituent Assembly member from Siraha Constituency No 3 in 2013.
Her commitment and steadfastness have paid off as Sita Devi Yadav has been able to defeat former minister and former deputy speaker Chitra Lekha Yadav in a tough competition for the position of party treasurer. She won by just eight votes. She was picked by the establishment faction to take on incumbent treasurer Chitra Lekha.
Sita Devi Yadav was born on November 16, 1955 and has completed intermediate level college with a sociology major.
