The political circle of the Nepali Congress is currently undergoing a serious introspection and organizational transformation. The recent ‘Gen-G’ rebellion and the subsequent political vacuum that the country has endured have forced the Congress to undergo a rigorous self-examination of its old working style, leadership monopoly, and accountability to the people.

As the deadline for the 15th General Convention approaches, the younger generation within the party has established the agenda of radical change as the central debate through a strong 'party reform campaign'. 

This campaign is not just an emotional movement, but an attempt to find a legal basis for era-appropriate change in the party constitution. Their main demand is that 40 percent representation should be ensured to youth at every level of the party and in the distribution of election tickets. Their argument is that while the country has a large youth population, the old generation has not been able to represent the public sentiment due to the continued dominance of the party's policy-making level. Only by making a legal provision for giving 40 percent of tickets to youth in elections will it be possible to cure the old disease of limited people getting repeated opportunities. Therefore, it is necessary for the Congress Central Working Committee meeting to take the right decision for the radical reform and transformation of the party and move forward. 

The most revolutionary agenda put forward by this youth campaign is the proposal to set a term limit for elected positions. The youth have demanded some strict legal provisions to end the trend of a limited number of people becoming candidates in general elections repeatedly and occupying lucrative positions in the party and government. Their proposal is that now a clear provision should be made that no person can become an MP (direct or proportional) more than once. And, this proposal aims to uproot the culture of 'lifelong political career' and 'getting opportunities again and again' that has been rooted in the Nepali Congress for generations. Now the door will open for new, qualified and honest people in politics and the leadership will remain accountable to the public sentiment and workers. The demand that the people running the party and the government should be different has also been put forward, which will help maintain the balance of power and free the party from the shadow of the government. 

The Nepali Congress Central Working Committee meeting, which began on October 28, was postponed in between due to Tihar and Chhath and is currently resuming. In this meeting, led by Acting President Purna Bahadur Khadka, an in-depth discussion is being held on the political situation after the 'Gen-G' protests and the role of the party. Amidst the pressure from outside by the Gen-G movement and the pressure created from within by the party reform campaign, the Central Working Committee must now pass a concrete reform agenda. President Sher Bahadur Deuba's current term ends in November. In this situation, the general convention delegates (more than 54 percent) have submitted their signatures along with the demand for a special general convention. The main challenge now is how to unite the party? All kinds of opinions should be respected within the party. The party should also be aware of the danger of division if it tries to wield the majority stick. 

The inevitability of transformation

The interim government has announced that new elections to the House of Representatives will be held on Falgun 21. Security challenges are more serious than technical ones to hold the elections on the scheduled date. Thousands of prisoners are out of jail, and a large number of weapons have been looted. The government has not shown the readiness and capacity it should show to address this situation. Therefore, the Congress should move towards getting a fresh mandate before the House of Representatives elections. 

Earlier this year, the National Dalit Roundtable Conference held in Kathmandu concluded that the major political parties in Nepal are using themselves as vote banks instead of ensuring the rights of the Dalit community, which has been neglected for centuries. While the indigenous peoples who have fought a long struggle for identity seem to want leadership from their own community, communities including Madhesi, Tharu, and Muslims are also complaining that the major political parties have not adequately addressed their problems. 

The crisis that has been seen in the country's sovereign existence and constitution cannot be resolved by forming multiple parties or by contesting elections separately. It is necessary for all forces that believe in democracy, nationality, liberalism, and social justice, and have faith in the current constitution, to come together. The main need now is to transform the Nepali Congress into a 'big tent' party that represents all ethnic groups, languages, religions, communities, classes, and generations of Nepal, and that will 'encompass all Nepalis', as envisioned by founding leaders including BP Koirala. Therefore, the Congress should express its commitment to go to the people with new policies, leadership, programs, and working styles through the upcoming general convention. The Congress should dare to go to the general election with a manifesto to build a prosperous and developed Nepal by taking all democratic forces along with it. And, it should also express its commitment to provide corruption-free good governance, review the mistakes and weaknesses of the past and not repeat them.