BIRATNAGAR, Dec 7: Candidate Guru Raj Ghimire has fallen short of victory for the post of Nepali Congress (NC) president of Province 1 after the party’s central leaders who supported his candidacy did not vote for him in the provincial convention of NC. Ghimire lost the elections by just two votes against Udhbav Thapa from the Deuba-Sitaula faction.
Leaders Dr Shekhar Koirala, Mahesh Acharya, Sujata Koirala, and Bal Bahadur KC who supported Guru Raj Ghimire in the election did not take part in the voting. Although the leaders showed up at the inaugural ceremony of the provincial convention of Province 1, they were not present on the day of the voting.
Meanwhile, leader Dr Shekhar Koirala has asked Ghimire for forgiveness through a tweet for not voting for him in the election. Stating that he was not clear if the central leaders, too, could vote in the provincial level elections, Dr Koirala said that he did not participate in the elections due to that reason.
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“There was a ‘doubt’ from the beginning whether the central leaders of the party could vote in the provincial level elections under the 14th General Convention of the party. It was understood that voting through a legal consultation could lead to complications in the future. Therefore, I did not vote. Being aware of my weakness through this incident, I apologize for the inconvenience.
Meanwhile, some leaders and party members from Province 1 have expressed their agitation following Dr Shekhar’s tweet. Stating that Dr Shekhar among other leaders have made the biggest mistake in history by not voting for their candidate, they say that such a mistake cannot be forgiven just by an apology.
As many as 1,752 votes were cast in the elections out of 1,804 voters. Of them, Thapa received 844 votes while Ghimire received 842 votes.
There is a provision in the NC’s statute where constituency representatives of the Provincial Assembly, the representatives of the General Convention, the central members of the respective provinces, the fraternal and well-wishers will be the main voters in the provincial convention of NC.
