KATHMANDU, Oct. 7: Nepali Congress delegates will vote Thursday to elect a new party leadership, with Gagan Kumar Thapa and Shyam Krishna Khadgi contesting for president after Kishor Singh Rathore withdrew his candidacy.
According to the Central Election Committee, voting for the new Central Working Committee on the fifth day of the party’s 15th General Convention will begin at 10 am, with 7,255 delegates eligible to cast their ballots.
Voting was originally scheduled to begin at 7 am but was delayed by three hours due to rainfall and technical reasons, said Prem Bahadur Khadka, coordinator of the election committee and a senior advocate.
Efforts throughout Wednesday to persuade Khadgi to withdraw his candidacy and pave the way for Thapa to be elected unopposed were unsuccessful.
Senior Vice President Bishwaprakash Sharma and woman Vice President Pushpa Bhusal were elected unopposed on Tuesday. Vice presidential candidates Minendra Rijal and Devraj Chalise withdrew their nominations.
Eleven candidates are contesting for the post of general secretary.
Thapa, Khadgi in race as NC votes for new leadership
The election committee has designated seven polling stations at three locations in Kathmandu—Rastriya Sabha Griha, Khulamanch and Nepal Academy—for the voting.
Delegates from Bagmati Province will vote at Rastriya Sabha Griha, while those from Koshi, Madhes, Karnali and Sudurpaschim provinces will vote at Khulamanch. Delegates representing sister organisations, well-wishers’ organisations and Nepali Congress chapters abroad will also vote at Khulamanch.
Delegates from Gandaki and Lumbini provinces will vote at Nepal Academy.
The election committee has arranged separate polling stations based on provinces and other categories of representation to facilitate voting. Delegates will have to vote at the polling station designated for their respective province or group.
Khadka said delegates will be allowed to vote only after their identity and names on the voter list have been verified.
Expanded Central Working Committee
The amended party statute approved during the convention has increased the size of the Central Working Committee to 297 members.
The new committee will have one president, one senior vice president and four vice presidents, including at least one woman. It will also have three general secretaries, including at least one woman, and 15 joint general secretaries.
The treasurer will be elected from among the central members. The party will also have one spokesperson and one deputy spokesperson.
The Central Working Committee will include 45 members under the open category and 15 women under the open category. Each province will have four representatives, including at least one woman.
‘No factions remain in NC,’ says Thapa
Addressing the closing session of the convention on Wednesday, presidential candidate Gagan Kumar Thapa said factional groups within the Nepali Congress had come to an end.
Thapa said groups associated with the Koirala and Paudel camps, among others, no longer existed.
“Specially, the Koirala-Paudel groups have all ended. There is no group. From today, all factions are over,” Thapa said.
He said the party would now move forward as a unified organisation rather than along factional lines. Thapa also said the Nepali Congress should focus less on internal management and more on debates concerning society and the people.
He said he would work around the clock immediately after the convention until the local-level elections.
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