After failing to reach an agreement, preparations are underway to present separate agendas for the general convention from General Secretary Gagan Thapa and the establishment side in the meeting of the Nepali Congress Central Working Committee to be held today. The Congress meeting is scheduled to be held at 1 pm.

General Secretary Gagan Thapa is consulting with leaders of his party to prepare the schedule. Earlier, Thapa had prepared to present the schedule from Poush 16 to 19 proposed by another General Secretary Bishwo Prakash Sharma. A central member close to Thapa said that the date may be slightly changed as some leaders suggested amendments to it.

The establishment party is preparing to present a separate schedule in response to that through Joint General Secretary Mahendra Raya Yadav. According to him, preparations are being made to propose a schedule from Baisakh 27 to 30. The establishment party is insisting on presenting both schedules to the Central Working Committee and getting a decision made.

The Central Working Committee, where the establishment party has a majority, has little chance of passing the schedule of the general secretaries without consensus. Both general secretaries have been saying that if the schedule to hold the general convention is not passed before the election, a mandatory situation will arise to hold a special general convention.

A petition has been registered at the party central office demanding a special general convention on Asoj 29 with 54 percent signatures of the general convention delegates. The Congress statute has a mandatory provision to convene a special general convention within three months of the date of registration.

The establishment side, however, is not in favor of both general conventions. ‘Our first priority is to fulfill the national responsibility of making the elections announced by the President a success,’ said Joint General Secretary Yadav. ‘It does not matter if the internal convention of the party is delayed by two to three months. The main emphasis should be on the elections now.’

According to Yadav, they will present the post-election agenda only after General Secretary Thapa proposes the agenda. He said, ‘We have so far prepared the agenda so that the central general convention will be held from April 27 to 30. If the General Secretary proposes it individually, ours will also be presented.’

Congress acting president Purna Bahadur Khadka had held discussions among top leaders through a meeting of the Central Working Committee to reach an agreement on a single agenda. After four days of discussions failed to reach an agreement, both sides prepared separate agendas on Tuesday. This is expected to further increase the dispute within the party.

Party President Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is undergoing treatment in Singapore, has suggested the acting president to reach an agreement for a regular general convention instead of a special general convention. Leaders close to Deuba have said that Deuba has urged for an agreement to be reached at the regular general convention, saying that a special general convention would increase the risk of party division.

However, leaders from other parties say that an agreement has been reached to hold the general convention before the election due to the seven former office bearers within the establishment party. The two general secretaries have moved forward saying that if the central working committee does not decide to hold the general convention before the election, it will be a mandatory situation to call a special general convention.