By Our Reporter
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has been elected Nepali Congress president for the second term. He was elected in the second round of the election held on Tuesday under the party’s 14th general convention by securing 2733 votes. His rival Dr. Shekhar Koirala received 1855 votes. The results were made public Wednesday morning.
The NC had to hold the second round vote to elect the party president as no candidate succeeded to garner the majority of the cast votes in the first round elections held on Monday.
Altogether 4564 votes were cast in the second round poll while in the first round election on Monday, 4679 votes were cast.
Earlier in the first round of the election held on Monday, Deuba was short of 82 votes as he secured only 2258 votes while one had to garner 2340 votes to get elected.
In the first round, five candidates were in the race and Dr. Koirala secured the second position with 1729 votes while Prakashman Singh got only 371 votes, Bimalendra Nidhi 249 and Kalyan Gurung 20 votes.
Four of the five candidates for the post of party president were in the fray with a slogan of leadership change. However, when three of them got meagre votes, they abandoned their slogan and helped Deuba in the second round leaving Koirala alone.
In a dramatic development Tuesday morning, Singh, Nidhi and Gurung, who were in the fray with a slogan of leadership change until Monday, backed Deuba, making his victory easier in the runoff election.
Of course, Prakashman Singh, who rejected to abandon his candidacy for Koirala, stating that he was stronger than Koirala, got only 371 votes against 1729 of Koirala in the first round. Maybe frustrated by poor vote and with a hope of getting a chance in power-sharing, he joined the establishment although he had left Deuba about a decade back and joined the Koirala camp.
Earlier in the 13th general convention held in 2017, Deuba was elected to the post of party president by defeating senior leader Ram Chandra Paudel also in the second round polls.
The reelection of Deuba might have pleased Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Madhav Kumar Nepal and even KP Sharma Oli, because they think it easier to have Deuba as NC president than any strong man like Shekhar. However, for the party well-wishers and the NC leaders, the result was disappointing because they knew well that Deuba was responsible for all anomalies seen in the parliamentary system of democracy in Nepal. He was the NC leader, who instructed NC voters to cast votes to Maoists in Chitwan in 2017 local levels. Moreover, NC lost the general elections in his leadership in 2017.
Had he not been the PM this time, it would have been difficult for him to get reelected. He used state power to have more representatives loyal to him right from the ward level convention of the party. He had sought votes with promises to give a majority to the party in the upcoming elections and save the coalition.
However, one has to wait at least two more days to see his new team as the vote counting of other office bearers and central members have not begun yet. Deuba, Koirala and Singh had contested the elections with their own panels. If a majority of the office bearers come from Koirala camp, it will not be easy for Deuba to work. The presence of Gagan Thapa as general secretary could be a headache for Deuba. However, it is not sure whether Thapa will get elected.
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