NC leaders go techno savvy, send SMS to court support

KATHMANDU, Sept 4: With over half a dozen candidates intending to field their candidacy for the post of general secretary, Nepali Congress (NC) leaders vying for the key post in the Central Working Committee (CWC) have intensified their campaign for the upcoming 12th general convention of the party.

Busy as they already are making preparations for the convention scheduled for September 17-21, the leaders have gone techno savvy in order to court support of over 3,100 general convention representatives across the country. [break]

According to the general convention representatives, they have received SMS messages from contenders for the post of general secretary, including Prakash Man Singh, Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, Bimalendra Nidhi and Sujata Koirala.

“Though these SMS texts have been sent as congratulatory messages the leaders are implicitly courting votes in their favor,” said a general convention representative.

The SMS sent by Nidhi, who is contending for the post of party´s general secretary from Sher Bahadur Deuba panel, has congratulated a general convention representative on being elected. Though the SMS also solicits support for him in the central level election, Nidhi, however, has not specified the post he would be contesting for.

Though party insiders say that Sushil Koirala is yet to name candidate for the post of general secretary from his panel, Dr Mahat, who is keen on contesting for the post from Koirala´s panel, has sought support for his candidacy in the SMS message.

Hearty congratulations on being elected as general convention representative. I request for your support in Kathmandu convention and central election. - Bimalendra Nidhi

Congratulations on being elected. Looking forward to meeting you in the coming 12th Mahadhibesan in Kathmandu. Expecting your valuable support. - Dr Ram Sharan Mahat

“Congratulations on being elected! Looking forward to meeting you in the coming 12th general convention in Kathmandu. Expecting your valuable support,” reads the SMS sent by Dr Mahat.

Vice President Prakash Man Singh, who recently joined the Koirala camp severing his long-standing ties with Deuba, has also resorted to sending SMS to court votes in his favor. “Hearty congratulations on being elected for Nepali Congress General Convention/ Mahasamiti (representative),” reads his SMS message.

Similar is the text message of another contender for the post Sujata Koirala. Though Koirala already announced publicly that the she would contest for the post of general secretary, her SMS do not directly solicit votes.

NC leader Narahari Acharya, who announced his candidacy for the post of general secretary from the third NC front led by Bhim Bahadur Tamang, said his colleagues are preparing to send SMS to all 3,100 general convention representatives.

He said they are trying to collect cell numbers of every general convention representatives. “Hearty congratulations on being elected for the historic 12th general convention,” the SMS message would read according to Acharya.

NC general convention representatives, however, said they have not yet received SMS messages on behalf of Arjun Narsingh KC and Krishna Prasad Sitaula, who have also expressed their intent to contest for the post of general secretary from Koirala panel.

A majority of NC leaders vying for the post of the party´s Central Working Committee (CWC) members have also been sending SMS courting support, while some others have resorted to personal meetings.

Party insides say most of the leaders contesting for a position in CWC have hired their personal assistants for the purpose.

“Sometime we find ourselves in an awkward situation,” says youth leader and general convention representative Gagan Thapa. “We happen to receive such SMS messages when we are actually in a meeting with the same leader.”

koshraj@myrepublica.com