Nepali Congress Faction Rejects Special Convention Decisions

Kathmandu. The Sher Bahadur Deuba faction of the Nepali Congress has stated that it will not abide by the decisions made by the establishment led by Gagan Thapa, who was elected through a special general convention. The working committee meeting held on Sunday under the chairmanship of President Gagan Thapa had decided to allow all central members elected from the 14th general convention to participate in the 15th general convention in the same capacity. However, the Deuba faction has decided not to accept the decisions made by the committee formed from the special general convention, claiming that the special general convention held in Poush was illegal. Leader Deepak Khadka informed that a meeting held at Deuba's residence in Chunadevi on Monday morning decided to complete the conventions from October 15 to hold the general convention in Mangsir. While the establishment had announced the 15th general convention in Ashoj, the Deuba faction had previously set the general convention for Mangsir. Khadka of the Deuba faction stated that the meeting decided not to accept the decisions made by the working committee formed from the special general convention without political discussion and understanding. 'The meeting decided not to accept the decisions made by the committee formed from the special general convention as they are illegal,' Khadka told Ratopati. 'We will not participate in the convention set unilaterally, and we have decided to conduct the convention in accordance with the schedule of the convention from October 15 set by the committee formed from the 14th general convention.' According to Khadka, the meeting also decided to form and complete the election committee, discipline committee, and active membership management committee required for the general convention. The faction had only appointed Yeraj Pokharel as the coordinator of the election committee on Sunday. The meeting also decided to proceed with its activities while awaiting the verdict on the review of the Supreme Court's earlier decision regarding the party's authenticity, as permission for the review has already been obtained. There has been a dispute in the Congress since the special general convention held in the last week of Poush, led by General Secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwaprakash Sharma, amidst disagreement from the then central committee. The Deuba and Dr. Shekhar Koirala factions do not recognize the special general convention. They have been raising one demand after another from their side. The Deuba and Dr. Shekhar factions had demanded that active members renewed by the end of Poush for the 15th general convention should be recognized and all central members elected from the 14th general convention should be included in the central committee formed after the special general convention. Although that demand was met by the working committee, the faction's meeting decided not to participate in the general convention to be held from October 16 to 19 by the establishment, questioning the legality of the special general convention. The Deuba faction has organized a press conference at the contact office in Chunadevi at 4 PM on Monday to publicize the decisions of the meeting.