Earlier, the election was slated for Sunday but that was postponed because of disputes about the representatives. Of the 1,500 representatives, the dispute regarding 200 representatives had compelled the committee formed to settle the dispute to postpone the date till Monday.
ANNFSU's 22nd general convention was scheduled to begin on Wednesday and end within four days. The convention was inaugurated one day late because of the death of Nepali Congress President Sushil Koirala on Tuesday.
The CPN (UML) has formed a seven-member committee for supervising the election of the new leadership under the chairmanship of party secretary Gokarna Bista. The other members of the committee are Rabindra Adhikari, Khim Lal Bhattarai, Rajendra Rai, Thakur Gaire, Shree Prasad Saha and Kishor Bikram Malla.
Sudip Sharma, a candidate for the post of Central Secretariat member, said, "As it was not a good idea to carry out voting during night, the committee has decided to postpone the voting till Tuesday morning."
The current general-secretary Nabina Lama and vice-president Deepak Gautam are competing for the post of union's presidency. The party will witness fierce competition between the two factions backed by top leaders. The Lama faction is loyal to Prime Minister and UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli and the Gautam faction is loyal to UML senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal.
Both the factions were supposed to file their nominations for the election till Sunday evening. The candidates will be competing for 17 office-bearer posts and 141 seats for central committee members.
With sharp division among the top leaders, former student leaders and chairman of campus unions, the voters are also sharply divided about choosing their leaders. Radhika Khadtiwada, who announced candidacy for vice-chairman from Gautam faction, said, "It was not a good idea to postpone the voting process yet again as all the disputes were sorted out and the expenses will add burden to the Union."
Similarly, candidates for the post of vice-chairman from the Lama faction are Sunita Baral, Shailesh Lama, Mahesh Bartaula and Rashmi Aacharya while Yen Bahadur Mahara is in the race for the post of general secretary. Likewise, candidates for the post of vice-chairman from the Gautam faction are Radhika Khatiwada, Jeevan Rai, Nilkantha Aacharya and Saroj Yadav while Abdul Hussain Khan is in the race for the post of general secretary.
Some student leaders have expressed strong dissatisfaction over the delay in voting as deferral of one day costs the Union over Rs 1 million.
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