KATHMANDU, July 19: Amid public perception that the Koirala family carries the legacy of the country's oldest party which is currently mired in internal rivalry, three senior leaders of the Koirala family currently active in Nepali Congress (NC) met on Wednesday to forge their future strategy within the party.

A luncheon meeting held after a hiatus of several months at the residence of NC General Secretary Dr Shashank Koirala, who is son of NC's founding leader BP Koirala, dwelt on the concurrent issues of national politics, especially in the post-Koirala era of NC leadership. Dr Shekhar Koirala and Sujata Koirala had reached Shashank's residence in Tokha for the meeting that lasted for over three hours.

According to Shekhar Koirala's personal aide Dinesh Chandra Thapaliya, the meeting held at Shashank's initiative dwelt on concurrent politics in the country and the ways to make NC strong again. 

“The party's internal balance has lately changed. This has resulted into party moving beyond its original track. The meeting dwelt on reviving the glory of the party,” said Thapaliya. 

The senior NC leaders of Koirala family had not met for this type of in-depth meeting after the NC's 13th General Convention that elected Sher Bahadur Deuba as the first party president from outside the Koirala family after decades. Deuba swept to power after the death of then party president Sushil Koirala in February, 2016.

The meeting also discussed on the relatively dismal performance in the recent local polls and reviving the role that NC used to have in national politics in the past. “The three senior leaders have agreed to move ahead united to make the party strong and move it ahead as per the vision of the party's founding leaders,” Thapaliya further said.

The meeting comes amid speculations within the NC that Shashank, who was elected as general secretary from the then establishment faction led by Ram Chandra Paudel, lately grew close to Deuba. However, the faction lost its hold in the party as Paudel could not retain many senior leaders including Krishna Prasad Sitaula and Arjun Narsingh KC, who joined Deuba camp during the 13th general convention of the party held in March, 2016.

 
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