KATHMANDU, Dec 19: As part of the Nepali Congress (NC)'s 100-day campaign, the Koshi Province Committee announced that a provincial conference would be held in Biratnagar on December 7, with party president Sher Bahadur Deuba and other party officials set to participate. However, four days earlier, on December 3, those close to NC leader Shekhar Koirala held a separate conference in Biratnagar, inaugurated by Koirala himself.
Leader Koirala did not participate in the conference organized by the party's Koshi Province Committee. While leaders in Kathmandu were rushing to Biratnagar, Koirala left for another program. This not only brought the factional conflict within the largest party in the federal parliament to the surface once again but also pushed the dispute over the hierarchy to the fore.
The rival faction has maintained that Koirala, who was nominated for the post of president in the 14th NC General Convention, should be placed after Deuba. A leader said that although President Deuba seemed flexible in placing Koirala second—who is currently ranked 25th in the party's hierarchy—the dispute at the Koshi Province Conference persisted, as others were not willing to concede. Although a leader close to Koirala claimed that this was not the only issue of contention, the dispute over hierarchy has been ongoing since the first meeting after the 14th General Convention.
There is no provision for a senior leader in the NC statute except during the unification of the NC and the then NC (Democratic) in 2007. Party leaders and cadres have been assigning various nicknames to leaders based on their compatibility and closeness.
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Deuba, who was also elected as President in the 14th General Convention of the party, had placed Ram Chandra Poudel in second place after him. Those close to Deuba claim that Koirala should now be given that position after Poudel became the President.
However, Koirala has told those close to him that he is not interested in the ranking issue. In the 14th General Convention held between November and December 2021, Deuba, Koirala, Prakash Man Singh, Bimalendra Nidhi, and Kalyan Gurung were candidates for the presidency. According to the election results, Koirala was Deuba's closest rival.
Although the dispute over the order of precedence is not new within the NC, there was also disagreement in the past over whether to prioritize Ram Chandra Poudel as the second-ranking leader. Despite the disagreement, the leaders eventually agreed to place Poudel second. After the 13th General Convention, when there was a similar dispute, five central members attended the meeting but completed their term without signing the decision book.
Former Vice President Gopal Man Shrestha, former General Secretary Kul Bahadur Gurung, and former Joint General Secretaries Ram Sharan Mahat, Arjun Narsingh KC, and Ramesh Lekhak were among those who refused to sign, asserting that their positions in the ranking order should be higher.
Shrestha has claimed that he is the most senior leader in the party after Girija Prasad Koirala. He has also expressed dissatisfaction over being placed tenth in the hierarchy, despite his seniority after President Deuba and senior leader Poudel.
In the ranking order, former General Secretaries Prakash Man Singh and Krishna Prasad Sitaula were placed above Shrestha, while former General Secretary Gurung ranked below him. Mahat and KC, both from Nuwakot, have occasionally disputed their relative rankings, with KC claiming seniority over Mahat. However, since Mahat served as the party's joint general secretary before KC, he was ranked higher. At that time, Mahat was placed 16th and KC 17th in the hierarchy.
A similar dispute over precedence arose after the 12th General Convention. There was also a dispute between Bal Krishna Khand and Gyanendra Bahadur Karki regarding their ranking. Additionally, a disagreement between Prakash Man Singh and Bimalendra Nidhi led to then-NC (Democratic) President Deuba creating the position of party vice president.
Deuba promoted Singh to vice president and assigned Nidhi as general secretary, which left tensions between the two leaders unresolved. Although the NC has formed committees to resolve disputes over the order of precedence, no lasting solution has yet been achieved.
