Kathmandu, Sept 18: More than 35 leaders from the dissident faction of the Nepali Congress returned to the party’s central office in Sanepa on Thursday, amid a growing struggle over its 15th general convention.
The leaders had stayed away from the office for months. Some had helped set up the dissidents’ contact office in Chundevi and gone to Tribhuvan International Airport to welcome former party president Sher Bahadur Deuba. Their presence at Thursday’s meeting has raised hopes of dialogue between the two sides, but it remains unclear whether Deuba will change course.
Among those who attended were Min Bishwakarma, a Deuba ally who played a leading role in opening the Chundevi office, and Gyanendra Bahadur Karki. Roughly half the leaders who had openly backed Deuba during his dispute with party president Gagan Kumar Thapa joined the meeting.
A leader close to Deuba said the former president would press ahead with the convention schedule he has announced, even if only one ward remained with him. The leader accused those returning to Sanepa of seeking political opportunities.
Another Deuba ally, Deepak Kuinkel, said time for an agreement was running out. He argued that the establishment faction must suspend its announced ward conventions and hold talks with Deuba before those elections take place.
“Once the ward conventions are held, I don’t think an agreement will be possible,” Kuinkel told Bahrakhari. The return of individual leaders would not alter the faction’s position, he said. Deuba, as the president elected by the 14th general convention, must personally take part in settling the dispute.
Meanwhile, Deuba ally Deepak Khadka said in a statement on Thursday that questions concerning the party’s tree election symbol and four-star flag were before the Supreme Court. He expressed confidence that the court would deliver justice.
Khadka urged party members to take part in the dissident faction’s scheduled conventions: ward meetings from October 1 (Asoj 15), municipal meetings on Ocotobe 6 (Asoj 20), provincial assembly constituency meetings on October 9 (Asoj 23), district meetings on November 1 (Kartik 15) and provincial committee meetings on November 20 (Mangsir 40.
The return to Sanepa has reopened discussion about a compromise. Yet the rival convention schedules, the leadership dispute and the court case remain unresolved. Congress members will now be watching both the returning leaders’ next moves and Deuba’s response.
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