Vote for NC president inconclusive, runoff from 2-5 pm today

Deuba short of 11 votes

KATHMANDU, March 7: With the election for Nepali Congress president held on Sunday yielding no result, the party has scheduled a runoff voting on Monday from 2 to 5 pm.

The party planned next round of voting as none of the three contestants for the top post secured over 50 percent of the total votes cast as required in accordance with the party statute.

Despite consistent lead by senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba throughout the night, he at the end of vote counting on Monday morning secured only 1564 votes, which was 11 votes short of the required 1575 votes.

In the first round of voting, his nearest rival, party’s incumbent Acting President Ram Chandra Paudel, secured 1160 votes. Likewise, other contestant Krishna Prasad Sitaula fell far behind the two candidates with just 324 votes. Altogether, 100 votes were found invalid.

The runoff vote will be held between two top vote scorers – Deuba and Paudel.

“We will hold the runoff voting today [Monday],” Jagannath Shrestha, member secretary of the election committee, told Republica.

As per the clause 16 of the party statute, only a candidate securing over 50 percent of the total votes cast can be elected as president. However, in the runoff voting, anyone securing highest vote can be declared the president even if it’s less than 50 percent. This provision of over 50 percent vote requirement does not apply for other posts.

The party’s central election committee has announced to begin voting at Rastriya Sabha Griha on Monday.

Of the total 3,161 party representatives, only 3148 had cast their votes.

The vote casting was delayed for hours due to dispute over 30 representatives, who were nominated by late NC president Sushil Koirala. As some of the party members opposed their voting rights, the party leaders were sharply divided over whether they should be allowed to vote or not. Eventually, majority of the party’s central election committee members decided not to let them cast their votes although one of the members of the committee,
Gopal Krishna Ghimire, registered a note of dissent over the decision.

With this situation it is still not clear about the new leadership of the oldest party.

Members of the Koirala family have led the 69-year-old party directly or indirectly for six decades. When the party was founded in 1947, Tanka Prasad Acharya was nominated as the party president. But Acting President BP Koirala got a chance to command the party as Acharya was serving life term in jail at that time.

In the past six decades, founding leader Subarna Shamsher Rana had a chance to lead the party for one year and Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, another founding leader, for four years. Bhattarai however somehow exercised the party leadership for another 16 years as acting president when BP Koirala was in exile or in prison during the Panchayat regime.

Counting for other posts

The counting of votes for other posts will be conducted at NC party office, Sanepa from Monday. The general convention is also electing a party general secretary, a treasurer and 61 central committee members.

Three candidates are in the race for the post of general secretary and four for the post of party treasurer.

Altogether 302 candidates are contesting for 61 posts of party central working committee (CWC) members. Earlier 375 leaders had officially registered their candidacy for the total 61 CWC members and three office bearers’ positions but later 63 aspirants withdrew their candidacies.
Of the total 61 CWC members, 25 will be elected under open competition, 6 under women’s reservation, 5 each under indigenous, madhesi and dalit quotas-- ensuring at least two women from each category-- and one from Muslim reservation quota.

The voting was conducted at the Rastriya Sabha Griha, starting at 10 am on Sunday, which lasted until 8 pm in the evening. Three panels led by NC Acting President Ram Chandra Paudel, senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba and General Secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula prepared their candidates for the top posts of the party.

Sashank Koirala from Paudel’s panel, Arjun Narsingh KC from Deuba and Gagan Thapa from Sitaula’s team competed for the post of general secretary. Likewise, Sita Devi Yadav, Chitra Lekha Yadav and Umakanta Chaudhary contested for the post of treasurer form Paudel, Deuba and Sitaula panels respectively.

Paudel and Deuba panels prepared list of candidates from their respective panel and distributed the lists to the voters seeking votes along the same line for the central committee members as well.

Deuba’s political trajectory

It is third contest for the party’s top post by three-time Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.

In the party’s eleventh general convention held in 2005, he contested for the post against then party president late Girija Prasad Koirala. He lost to him.

In its twelfth general convention held in Kathmandu in 2010, Deuba fought against the party’s erstwhile Acting Pesident late Sushil Koirala and he again lost the election.

Deuba, who hailed from a village in far-western district Dadeldhura, became home minister in the elected government in 1991 after reinstatement of democracy in 1990.

He became Prime Minister first time in 1995, second in 2001 and third time in 2004.

He was twice sacked by the erstwhile King Gyanendra Shah-- first in October 2002, and second time in February, 2005. Dismissing his government the then king assumed executive power that eventually pushed the major political forces to decisive agitation and ultimately the king had to relinquish power in 2006.

Deuba, who joined politics as a student leader, became the founding president of NC’s student wing Nepal Student Union.

He was elected as lawmaker from his home district Dadeldhura continuously in all the five elections held since 1991.

For few years after 1990, Deuba remained as a key member trusted by Girija Prasad Koirala. But over the year, he emerged as Koirala’s rival leader within the organization.

Later in 2002, the Deuba-led faction split the party to form Nepali Congress-Democratic (NC-Democratic) that lasted for five years before being reunified with the mother party in 2007.

The two leaders, late Girija Prasad Koirala and Deuba had agreed to reunify the two parties based on 60 percent seat allocations to the mother party and 40 percent to the new organization.

Since then, Deuba in the NC was taken as a leader of 40 percent strength of the organization.

Paudel’s political journey

Senior Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Poudel became NC Acting President following sudden death of the party’s president Sushil Koirala last month. He served as speaker of the House of Representatives, deputy prime minister, home minister, minister for peace and reconstruction, minister for local development and minister for agriculture in the past.

He was NC’s parliamentary party leader during the first Constituent Assembly (CA) and he contested for the post of prime minister in parliamentary voting but he couldn’t get elected.

Paudel, who hailed from Tanahu, has been elected as lawmaker from his electoral constituency in the home district continuously since 1991.

A leader known for his simple lifestyle, Paudel is also regarded as a leader championing the socialist orientation within the party. A section of party members appreciate him as a leader who can explain the party’s theoretical concepts in the spirit of BP Koirala, the party’s founder leader.

He has penned some political books including Democratic Socialism: A Study and Socialism in the Changed Context, among some others works.

He joined politics mainly in the context of 1960 when the then King Mahendra sacked elected Prime Minister BP Koirala and assumed executive powers.