Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa has boycotted Thursday's meeting of the Central Working Committee after not being able to present the agenda of the general convention. This has further intensified the dispute within the party. Before the meeting began, Thapa and another general secretary, Bishwo Prakash Sharma, had an informal conversation with acting president Purna Bahadur Khadka regarding the agenda.

Thapa had reached Sanepa at 1 pm with preparations to present the agenda at the meeting. Thapa left Sanepa after Khadka, during a discussion between three office bearers in the office of the acting president, asked to wait for a day, explaining the difficulties of his group.

The remaining political parties have announced their conventions and have started preparations. Our term has ended, but it is not natural that we cannot hold the convention. - Pradeep Poudel, Congress leader Earlier, General Secretary Sharma had made public a four-point proposal on various options for holding regular and special general conventions. Thapa was preparing to bring the agenda in the same vein. Thapa had moved forward based on a positive conversation with Acting President Khadka on Wednesday.

It is customary for the General Secretary to present the agenda at a Congress meeting only with the consent of the president. Earlier, Thapa had presented two options for the general convention in the Central Working Committee meeting. Thapa's plan to present the agenda to the central working committee after reaching an agreement in the performance committee was not possible due to disagreement from the establishment side, so he made it public for information.

On the other hand, the pressure on Thapa to present the agenda unilaterally has increased after the central members of the establishment side started talking about not presenting it in the central working committee meeting and making it public outside. "If there is no agreement on Friday, there is a possibility of presenting the agenda unilaterally," said a central member close to Thapa.

Acting President Khadka had proposed in the morning informal meeting to come up with a schedule so that the conventions up to the ward and municipal levels can be completed by mid-Mangsir, and to make the schedule after the regional, district, provincial and central conventions. However, another official said that after Thapa insisted that the central general convention elections should be held before the elections, there was no agreement on the agenda.

In the options presented by Sharma on Thursday, the first point mentions the schedule of the regular general convention from 10-12 December proposed by Thapa in the meeting of the performance committee. If there is no agreement on this, he drew the attention of Acting President Khadka to two options for a special general convention.

The second point was to call a special general convention in the context that 54 percent of the delegates of the general convention had already applied for a special general convention at the party's central office in Sanepa on 10 September. He has mentioned that the first priority when calling a special general convention is that the Central Working Committee itself should call it, and the second priority is to call it as demanded by the signatories if the Central Working Committee is not ready.

If there is no agreement on both of these, he has mentioned in the fourth point that the regular general convention can be extended by another 15 days to December. For that, Sharma had proposed a schedule from December 16-19. He suggests that it would be appropriate to hold the general convention on the occasion of BP Koirala's return home with a policy of national reconciliation.

Congress spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat said that there was no dispute over the agenda, but only the timing was not agreed upon. ‘Let’s start the work of active membership to bring the agenda from ward to center, and only hold the convention after the election,’ Mahat said, ‘Going together the convention and the election is counterproductive for the Congress.’

Central member Pradeep Poudel said that it would be more beneficial for the party to go to the election than not holding the convention. ‘The political parties with the remaining term have announced the convention and have moved forward with preparations. Our term has already ended. However, it is not natural that we will not be able to hold the convention,’ Poudel said, ‘Since it is the year of the regular convention, a general committee is not possible, the general convention is the only last option. If we want to extend the term without holding the regular general convention, we will have to call a special general convention.’

To bring the agenda from ward to center  Let's start the work of active membership, the convention is to do it after the election, the convention and the election are going to be counterproductive .- Prakash Sharan Mahat, Congress spokesperson   Article 17 (2) of the constitution states that if the Central Working Committee itself or 40 percent of the general convention delegates sign and demand it, there is a mandatory provision to call a special general convention. However, the establishment side is arguing that the signature of the general convention delegates whose term has expired does not constitute a mandatory condition for calling a general convention. 

'The term of the Central Working Committee elected by the same three general convention delegates will remain, and they will be asked to leave? Is it possible to despise the general convention delegates in this way?' Poudel added, 'It cannot be despised that they are trying to split the party while exercising the rights provided by the constitution. They may not have been able to become ministers, MPs and central members for special reasons. However, there are many senior leaders who are the representatives of the general convention. He said that the special general convention would be even more compelling if the term of the central working committee is extended.

15 members had expressed their views in the meeting on Thursday. Among those who expressed their views, most of the establishment party members had emphasized that the general convention schedule should be brought only after the elections. Some members of the establishment party had been aggressive towards the general secretaries Thapa and Sharma, who had been demanding a special general convention if it was not regular in Mangsir.

Central member Bahadur Singh Lama, who is close to President Deuba, defended the proposal of general secretaries Thapa and Sharma and opposed the stance of the establishment party. Lama said that he was surprised that the leaders who did not take even 24 hours to remove him from the post of Chief Minister of Bagmati Province could not hold the party's general convention even by Mangsir. He said that since the term ends in Mangsir, the general convention to be held thereafter would not be regular but irregular.

Acting President Khadka is under pressure after General Secretaries Thapa and Sharma insisted on bringing the agenda to hold the central general convention in Mangsir itself. The establishment-oriented leaders have warned him not to bow to the general secretary. In particular, seven former office bearers are not in favor of holding the general convention before the elections under any circumstances.

In the establishment-oriented meeting called by Khadka on Wednesday, most of the members were of the opinion that active membership should be terminated, and that other conventions should be held after the elections after the ward and municipal elections. However, Khadka was in favor of bringing the agenda within Mangsir to avoid further divisions within the party when a special general convention has been demanded by the signature of the general convention representative, and extending the time if it is not possible while working.

Other party leader Shekhar Koirala is also in favor of this. He has also been urging that the agenda for the regular general convention should be brought within Mangsir, but if it is not possible then, a solution can be found by looking at the situation and postponing it for some time.