A dispute has erupted in the Congress after the establishment was not ready to hold a regular general convention within Mangsir. While the establishment is strongly opposing the demand for a special general convention, the other party has warned of calling a separate national convention.

The establishment, which has a two-thirds majority in the Central Working Committee, is in favor of holding a regular general convention only in Baisakh instead of Mangshir. After the establishment started planning to extend the term of central office bearers and members, which ends in Mangshir, by a majority, the leaders leading the signatories for the special general convention warned of a separate gathering through a press conference in the capital on Sunday.

If there is no regular general convention in Mangsir, it will be mandatory to go to a special general convention, if the central working committee does not call it, we will be forced to call it ourselves: Gururaj Ghimire The meeting of the Central Working Committee, which began on 28 Asoj, has been postponed from Saturday and called for 13 Kartik. General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa wanted to present the agenda with two options for the regular general convention to the Central Working Committee within Mangshir in the meeting on Friday. Thapa had made the schedule public on Friday through his secretariat after the Central Working Committee meeting on Thursday refused to take up the agenda.

If the central working committee meeting does not decide in favor of a regular or special general convention, the signatories will call a meeting of the general convention representatives, said young leader Gururaj Ghimire. 'The central working committee meeting has not taken the demand for a special general convention seriously. If there is no regular general convention, it will be mandatory to go to a special general convention. If the central working committee does not call it, we will be forced to call it ourselves,' he said.

An application for a special general convention with the signatures of 54 percent general convention representatives has been registered at the party central office on 28 Asoj. The party's statute has made a mandatory provision that if a special general convention is demanded with 40 percent signatures, it must be called within three months. There is also a provision in the statute that the central working committee itself can call it. Such an exercise was done in 2014. The special general convention at that time had replaced Suvarna Shumsher Rana and made BP Koirala the party president.

‘We will wait until the meeting of the Central Working Committee is completed. If the regular general convention is not held on time and the demand for a special general convention is not taken seriously, we will be forced to call it ourselves. It will also be the duty of the majority general convention representatives to do this,’ Ghimire said, ‘A majority does not divide the party. It takes the reins of the party.’

There have been two kinds of opinions within the establishment on whether to hold a regular general convention in Mangsir itself. Central members Bharat Kumar Shah, Pushpa Bhusal, Dila Sangraula, Arjun Kumar Joshi, Zipchiring Lama, Muktakumari Yadav, Maikulal Valmiki, Narayani Rayamajhi and other leaders had voted in the meeting to hold a regular general convention within Mangsir. However, the establishment, especially the former office bearers, want to hold the party general convention only after the upcoming 21 Falgun elections.

Subash Pokharel, another leader leading the demand for a special general convention, said that they would be patient until the last meeting of the central working committee. 'If we do not hold a regular convention, and the term of the expired working committee is extended by a majority, then it is our prerogative to call a special general convention. Now that our petition has been registered, the regular proposals should be suspended,' he said, 'The demand for a special general convention is from 54 percent of the general convention representatives.' If the Central Working Committee is not sensitive to this legal process, we will take the process forward ourselves. We call on the office bearers and members of the Central Working Committee to resign and stand in favor.'

Most of the establishment-oriented leaders, including acting president Purna Bahadur Khadka, in the performance committee argued that holding a general convention before the election would have a serious impact on the party. Another member of the establishment, Nainsingh Mahar, says that the agenda for the regular general convention should be released by November. 'Why did the office bearers make the agenda public without bringing it to the Central Working Committee meeting?' Mahar said, 'If the agenda is not released, the office bearers will be disqualified.'

General Secretary Thapa proposes to hold a central general convention directly after the selection of central representatives as the first option for the regular general convention. This option has a schedule of finalizing the issue of active membership by 21 Kartik, submitting the membership list to the election committee on 7 Mangsir, then holding ward conventions on 12 and 13 Mangsir, selecting representatives to the House of Representatives, regional, and central general convention on 21 Mangsir, and holding a public relations committee convention. He proposes to hold a central general convention from 27-29 Mangsir immediately after the regional convention.