It has been three years since the 14th session of the Congress was held last November. The 15th convention should be held in November 2082 according to the statutory rules that convention should be held within four years. There is an interest in who will take the reins of the future leadership of the Congress. Part of the interview given by General Minister Gagan Thapa to Kantipur Television's 'Fireside' program last week and the meeting of the senior leaders of his group at party chairman Sher Bahadur Deuba's residence, not only the internal politics of the Congress, but also the national politics have been shaken.

Mahamantri Thapa's confidence was reflected in the 'Fireside' interview. Based on that confidence, he quoted a dialogue spoken by Abhitav Bachchan in the 1981 Hindi movie 'Kalia', which has become a proverb about his claim to the leadership of the Congress - 'Hum bhi wah aadmi hai, jo kisi ke piche khade nahi hota hai. Hum jahan kade hote hai wahi se line suru hota hai.' 

Just as Bachchan in the 70s was trying to change the ancient culture by bringing a new culture against the existing Indian society and culture through movies, Thapa is also a character established in Nepali politics as a young protagonist of the 2062/063 mass movement. If anyone claims to be the heir of the republican movement after Girija Prasad and Prachanda, it looks more natural in Thapa. As a student leader, he was also dismissed from his fraternal organization by the party, and despite not being a central member in the party line, he has maintained the height he had achieved from the streets.

Gagan is under pressure - of time, of the political landscape changed by technology, of the responsibility of raising hope with the limited resources and means before the state, of breaking the anger and frustration among the people. More than that, there is an awareness that before taking a voluntary break from politics, I should do something new, positive and proud of my own past. 

If you want to do a 'case study' through any character of Nepali politics since King Gyanendra took power, Thapa is undoubtedly a suitable character. He seems to be changing the direction and condition of the road, parliament, government and party politics. When he was elected as the General Minister of the party in 2078, targeting Thapa's age, some leaders within the party ignored him as the 'General Minister of the New Union'. It is clear that those who make such statements are shocked by the height that Thapa has achieved in these three years. Seeing his political stature, the Anudar camp within the party was shocked and sometimes suggested Sujata, sometimes Sushil, sometimes Ramchandra, sometimes Krishna Sitaula and now he is from the Shekhar faction. Gagan had not given them any answer till date. On Kantipur TV's  'Fireside', he has given a symbolic answer to all of them - in a restrained and diplomatic manner. 

Any dialogue has a specific background and context. Why is the background of Kalia Cinema's dialogue discussed here, if Thapa has stood in line with someone else, has always taken part as a member of a group, and tried to take it, it was necessary to tear down the misleading comment. In a simple way, Gagan has tried to set the path of his generation in a subtle way by facing many attacks from inside and outside the party, becoming the heir of the republican movement and trying to give a new direction to Nepali politics. That matter is naturally refused to be accepted by the dominant faction of the party. They are trying to oust him from the leadership by insulting him. Even Girija Prasad Koirala once accused Gagan and Narahari Acharya of being 'Darbaria agents'. 

Since 2062/63, there has been intense competition between old and new school, old and new thinking in Nepali politics. Gagan is leading the new thinking within the Congress. They are fighting on the strong foundation of their ideas and principles. That is why he said to the new generation and oppressors of ideas - 'I am the same person. Those who are not standing behind anyone, and the line starts from where I stand. 'There is no rebuke from anyone here, there is no right to abuse, everything is his expression that he has won the hearts of the workers and the people. 

For the last two years, wherever he goes, one of the questions he is asked is, 'Are you a candidate for the chairman in the 15th convention or not?' He usually answers it in a diplomatic style, 'I am working on how to conduct the convention at the time of the convention as per the responsibility of the general minister of the party. It is rash to comment on the candidature of the chairman. Gagan has won the confidence of the top leadership by sitting in the political machinery of government and standing with the party chairman. The working method of the party has also been transformed. He has played the role of 'catalyst' to make the government effective. Therefore, today, the whole line of RSVP, affected by the cooperative case, seems to be more determined to defame Thapa than KP Oli or Sher Bahadur Deuba. 

After the success of the revolution in 2007, looking at the politics till 2015, the whole fight was to stop BP Koirala from becoming the prime minister. The delayed general election confirmed that. By following the Congress and constitutional parliamentary rules and regulations, the wave that Thapa brought and stopped since 062/063 is reflected in the politics of these 20 years. That will be tested in the 15th session of the Congress, which will be held before the general elections in 2084. 

Today, those who went to Sher Bahadur Deubaka and begged for his blessing for the leadership and said, 'Let us appoint your successor', have forgotten the history of Deuba becoming the 'spontaneous' leader of the anti-coal team of the Congress without asking anyone's blessing. Deuba was the junior member in terms of the history of group involvement in the non-Koiralai team of the Congress, but his juniority was not an obstacle to leading that team but became an asset. He rose from outside the Koirala family to become the leader of the party establishment.

Anyone who wants to reach the leadership of the Republican Congress must understand that it is more important to understand the steps of the workers and to act accordingly than the blessings of the leadership. Party politics requires the blessing of the leadership but that blessing alone is not always enough. Leaders lining up for blessings would be remiss to forget that open politics is even more inadequate. In the past few years, the traditional thinkers in the Congress were seen saying with one voice that 'if Gagan does not contest for the chairmanship in the fifteenth convention, everything will be fine within the party'. Now it seems that they are trying to reach a consensus on who will compete against Gagan. 

Understanding the power of Gagan Thapa within the Congress party, there is no one who has more respect, reverence, affection and trust for it than the party president Sher Bahadur Deuba. Gagan Thapa and Sher Bahadur Deuba happened to be together in the political conflict of the hilly districts of the Midwest, after the 062/063 mass movement, before the first Constituent Assembly election in 064. Deuba directly felt the 'craze' for sky in remote villages and settlements outside of Kathmandu. 

After returning from Midwest Daudaha, when shortlisting the names of leaders from the Congress to the Constituent Assembly, Deuba took the initiative to say that Gagan's name should not be left out. In the internal equation of the party at that time Thapa became a member of the Constituent Assembly on the recommendation of Ramchandra Paudel. Since then he has represented in all the four parliaments and he has played an excellent role as an MP. When Thapa was contesting as a central member in the 12th Congress, Deuba called him and requested him to contest from his team. He said, "Brother, who is a republicanist?" How can it be republican that the kings within the party cannot stand against Koirala? Gagan Thapa laughed at Sher Bahadur Deuba's proposal. Even after that incident, Deuba's attachment and importance towards Gagan never decreased. Because, he already felt that the future of Congress will be safe on Gagan's shoulders. 

 When it came to the 14th convention, Thapa met Deuba from the same convention and was elected from different camps and could give Deuba a chance to become the general minister. Deuba has no irritation with this achievement of Gagan. As he has come from the school of democratic practices within the Congress, it seems that he takes Gagan's rule and support very easily and naturally. Be it when MCC was passed or when Prachanda voted for Ramchandra Poudel as the President and turned the government's shoulders, wherever Deuba engaged Gagan, all those things have reached results. That's why Deuba openly praised Gagan in some programs. After he openly praised Gagan, not only Shekhar Koirala but also the leaders of his own group seemed to have become desperate. Gagan once had to say to the party chairman - 'If you don't praise me in public, I will lose.' At that time, party chairman Deuba's answer was, 'Brother, he has done well, good things should be called good.' 

Gagan has helped the party president in the work of Rajkaz. In matters related to the internal life of the party, he has taken another general minister of his generation, Vishwa Prakash Sharma, and Pradeep Paudel, who was defeated as general minister, into his confidence. It has caused a separate blood circulation in the worker ranks. 

After the party approved Gagan's continued dissent from the February 2080 General Committee at Godavari, today there is no vocal dissent in the leadership of the Congress party. Now there is no other immediate mandate than to make the party successful in the government and to organize and strengthen it among the people and hold the convention on time. Gagan is at the forefront of that, he has become the party chairman and the savior of the party. 

Robert Michel, a famous political sociologist, has said that when a political party becomes old or old, the 'Iron Law of Oligarchy' prevails in those parties. The oligarchy does not know which leader's quarantine 'trial' period has been completed. They try to decide or force things like where to give opportunities to the party leadership. Gagan has proved his ability to lead the organization of the party by breaking through all the barriers and obstacles in his work. The gathering at the party president's residence has made that point self-evident. It seems certain that the leadership given by the 15th Congress will come from the competition between spontaneity and oligarchy.