Nepali Congress Faces Internal Divisions and Parallel Conventions

Kathmandu. Parallel general conventions are happening in the Nepali Congress. The establishment has already completed its general convention. The group of former President Sher Bahadur Deuba is actively conducting lower-level conventions with the aim of completing the general convention from November 21 to 23. The party has already split due to disputes following the Janji movement on August 23 and 24, 2082. The formal announcement of the split is yet to be made. There are two factions within Congress regarding the legality of the special general convention conducted by former General Secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwaprakash Sharma without the consent of the central committee formed from the 14th General Convention, the authenticity of the leadership, and the process of the 15th General Convention. The dispute between the groups that conducted the special general convention in the last week of Push and those who reject it is certain to divide Congress. The Election Commission officially recognized the special general convention on January 2, and the joint bench of the Supreme Court on April 4. However, the group of Sher Bahadur Deuba, elected president from the 14th General Convention, and leader Dr. Shekhar Koirala have rejected this decision and filed a review petition. After the full bench led by Chief Justice Dr. Manojkumar Sharma allowed the review, the committee that came to leadership through the special general convention did not participate in the process of the 15th General Convention. Although this is the current dispute, Congress's disputes began with the party's establishment. Nepali Congress was born in 2006 after the unification of 'Nepali Rastriya Congress' and 'Nepal Prajatantra Congress'. The main objective of uniting the two parties and establishing Congress was to end the Rana regime and establish a democratic system. The beginning of Congress's establishment is considered the day 'Nepali Rastriya Congress' was formed in the convention held on January 12 and 13, 2003, in Calcutta. Congress-related documents mention that the meeting of leaders including Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala and Ganeshman Singh made Tankaprasad Acharya, a leader of the Praja Parishad who was in jail, the president. On the other hand, leaders including Subarna Shamsher Rana, Mahabir Shamsher, Suryaprasad Upadhyay, and Mahendra Vikram Shah formed Nepal Prajatantra Congress on July 17, 2002. Its objective was to wage an armed struggle against the Rana regime. The unification of the two parties took place on March 27, 2006, at Mahabir Shamsher's Tiger Cinema Hall in Chaurangi, Kolkata, India, forming Nepali Congress. According to documents of Congress, the Indian Socialist Party and the Indian National Congress assisted in uniting the two parties. Historian Dr. Rajesh Gautam, in his book 'Nepal's Democratic Movement and Nepali Congress–1', mentions that after the unification of the two parties, Matrika Prasad Koirala, the president of Nepali Rastriya Congress, was selected as the president of the newly formed Nepali Congress, and Mahendra Vikram Shah, the president of Nepal Prajatantra Congress, was selected as the general secretary. In this context, BP's statement was also published in a magazine called 'Nepal Today'. The statement published in September 1947 reads, 'Expecting reform from selfish Ranas will be like expecting milk from a 'thari' cow.' Therefore, Nepalis must move towards struggle rather than compromise to be free from sin.' The Nepali Congress formed at that time still exists.

First split in 2009