Deuba announces candidacy for NC Prez

KATHMANDU, Sept 5: A day after Nepali Congress Acting President Sushil Koirala formally announced his candidacy for the post of the party president, NC senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba on Sunday followed suit.



Similarly, Bimalendra Nidhi and Chitra Lekha Yadav will be contesting for the post of party general secretary and treasurer, respectively, from the Deuba panel in the upcoming 12th general convention of the party scheduled for September 17-21. [break]



NC leader Khum Bahadur Khadka announced the candidacies amidst a press conference organized at the party headquarters in Sanepa, Sunday afternoon.



Talking to mediapersons, Deuba said he would nominate Khadka either as the party vice president or general secretary.



Khadka had decided to join the Deuba camp on Saturday after over a month long negotiation with both Sushil Koirala and Deuba. Khadka finally chose to be a part of Deuba camp as the latter assured him to nominate either in the post of vice president or general secretary.



As per the amended statute of the party, elected president can nominate vice president and one of the two general secretaries in the party´s office bearers´ body from among the elected 25 Central Working Committee (CWC) members. Khadka will contest for CWC member in the general convention.







Addressing a press meet, Khadka said he proposed Deuba for the party president´s post as he professedly believes that the latter would be able to reclaim the strength the party had during the early 90s. NC had won an overwhelming majority of seats in the general election held in 1991.



On the occasion, Deuba expressed his commitment to make NC the most inclusive and the largest democratic party in the country. He said the main challenge before them is to conclude the ongoing peace process and draft the new constitution.



“It is a challenging task to conclude the peace process initiated by Girijababu. The party should be strong for this,” he further said, adding: “I will remain active in making the party strong and alive.”



Deuba also assured that he would not discriminate against his party cadres on grounds of his/her involvement in one or the other camps within the party. He said he would be able to run the party smoothly as he already has the experience of running a coalition government.



NC leaders Jip Chhiring Lama, Manmohan Bhattarai, Minendra Rijal, Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat, Mohan Basnet, Purna Bahadur Khadka and Ambika Basnet, among others, were present at the press meet.



koshraj@myrepublica.com

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