KATHMANDU, July 3: Nepal's oldest and largest democratic party, the Nepali Congress (NC) remains mired in an internal power struggle that is increasingly heading toward a split rather than a settlement.
The dispute, which intensified after the party's Special General Convention held in December, has created a deadlock between leaders who supported the convention and those who opposed it.
At the heart of the conflict is the composition of the party's Central Working Committee. Leaders from the dissenting camp insist that the committee elected by the 14th General Convention should be merged with the committee elected through the Special General Convention before the party proceeds to its 15th General Convention. The leadership elected by the Special General Convention has refused to accept that proposal.
The new leadership has made it clear that it will not accommodate all 111 members of the previous Central Working Committee. Instead, it is willing to induct only a handful of senior leaders, including Purna Bahadur Khadka and Shekhar Koirala, who opposed the Special General Convention.
Party President Gagan Kumar Thapa and other senior leaders have been holding talks with the dissident faction. In recent days, General Secretary Gururaj Ghimire has met Koirala, Khadka, Krishna Prasad Sitaula and other senior leaders in an effort to break the deadlock.
Ghimire said the dissident leaders had proposed integrating the executive committees elected by both the 14th General Convention and the Special General Convention to create an environment for holding the 15th General Convention.
"We are committed to party unity," Ghimire said. "However, accommodating all 111 members of the previous committee would be difficult because it goes against the party statute."
NC deadlock deepens as establishment faction rejects pre-electi...
Khadka and Sitaula have argued that the party should suspend provisions of the statute if necessary to preserve unity. They have described full integration of the previous committee as their bottom line.
According to leaders close to the establishment, Koirala appears more flexible and has proposed forming a mechanism to prepare for the next General Convention instead of insisting on complete integration.
The establishment, however, favors recognizing Koirala and Khadka as senior leaders while accommodating only a limited number of other leaders within the framework of the party statute.
Leaders close to Thapa and Vice President Bishwa Prakash Sharma have argued that reinstating the entire previous committee is neither practical nor politically acceptable.
They say restoring the old committee would require giving Khadka the position of vice president, creating the impression that the Special General Convention was held merely to install Thapa and Sharma as party president and vice president.
Sources close to the establishment also said it has little interest in bringing leaders such as Sitaula, Bimalendra Nidhi, and Prakash Man Singh into the new Central Working Committee.
One establishment leader argued that insisting on accommodating the entire old committee works against party unity. "A strong view is emerging that the party should no longer remain trapped in minor disputes," the leader said.
Leaders who boycotted the Special General Convention have also demanded that the Election Committee, Disciplinary Committee and Active Membership Verification Committee be reconstituted with representation from both factions.
The establishment appears more open to this proposal.
The dissident camp has also called for the 15th General Convention to be held on the basis of the existing active membership list, arguing that the process of issuing and renewing memberships has already been completed. They say only those who joined the party around the time of the parliamentary elections, or those seeking new or renewed memberships, should be added.
The dissidents accuse the Thapa leadership of refusing to address these concerns and of attempting to sideline rival leaders through the membership renewal process.
Meanwhile, leaders opposed to the Special General Convention have established a separate contact office near Maharajgunj in Kathmandu and begun parallel organizational preparations.
Khadka has called a meeting of his close allies on Friday. The meeting is expected to decide on formally operating the contact office in Chundevi and convening a national gathering. The dissident faction also plans to hold meetings of the executive committee elected by the 14th General Convention from the new office.
Former Vice President Bimalendra Nidhi said his group remains committed to ensuring that the 15th General Convention is held in an atmosphere of broad unity.
He said Khadka had already presented a unity proposal to the leadership elected through the Special General Convention but accused the other side of delaying progress through political maneuvering.
Nidhi said the issue was discussed during a meeting on Thursday attended by Shashank Koirala, Prakash Man Singh and other leaders.
"We are committed to broad unity within the Nepali Congress," he said.
General Secretary Ghimire, however, dismissed speculation that the party is on the verge of splitting.
"We have held discussions. We may not be able to address every demand they have raised, but most of them can be addressed. If they agree to that, a way out will emerge," he said.
