The meeting of the Nepali Congress Central Working Committee, which began on 28 Asoj in the different political environment created after the Gen-G movement, has not been able to reach a concrete decision even after a month. The Nepali Congress has been indecisive after acting president Purna Bahadur Khadka appeared helpless in the face of the stand of seven former office bearers who will not allow any kind of general convention to be held before the elections scheduled for 21 Falgun.

A few days ago, in the establishment party meeting, central member Ramesh Lekhak had proposed to hold the regular general convention in the first week of Poush. The proposal brought by Lekhak before President Sher Bahadur Deuba left for Singapore for treatment could not be taken forward because seven former office bearers did not accept it. Lekhak had also secured the support of President Deuba at that time and put forward the proposal in the faction meeting.

The seven former office bearers include Gopalman Shrestha, Krishna Prasad Sitaula, Prakashman Singh, Bimalendra Nidhi, Shashank Koirala, Vijay Kumar Gachhadar and Prakash Sharan Mahat, who is also the spokesperson. Among them, Sitaula has been the most lenient in not holding the general convention before the elections under any circumstances. According to a leader of the establishment party, the seven former office bearers, who are worried that their political future will be jeopardized if they hold the general convention amid the turmoil of the Gen-G movement, seem to want to postpone the general convention and wait for a favorable time. Although they said they would hold the general convention in the coming month of Baisakh, some leaders are suspecting that they are actually trying to postpone it by a year.

According to a leader of the other establishment party, there are seven former office bearers who are planning to hold the general convention in the coming month of Baisakh and then postpone it for another six months under the pretext of the election if the 21 Falgun election is moved to Baisakh. Until before the Gen-G movement, they had been pressuring President Deuba to appoint one of those office bearers as his successor. Among them, Sitaula is understood to be trying to create a favorable environment by pressuring and influencing Deuba to compete for the leadership. Sitaula, who was defeated in the 2079 election, was made a member of the National Assembly by President Deuba. He was widely criticized at the time for taking the defeated person to the National Assembly.

Some leaders of the establishment party are starting to appear dissatisfied with their activities, saying that the party is in a state of disaster due to the seven former office bearers. Members who are not in their favor have been voting to hold a regular general convention before the election. 30 members of the establishment party have been seen voting in this way.

The party could not go to the national issue and preparations for the election, so I proposed to call a special general convention in the meeting itself to discuss policy formulation, otherwise the party is heading towards a disaster. In this struggle, the party has become a prisoner of indecision: Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, leader In Tuesday's meeting, establishment party leader Gyanendra Bahadur Karki said that if the regular general convention is not brought, then they should go to a special general convention.

However, he has proposed that the special general convention should be policy-focused without selecting the leadership. Karki said that removing Deuba from the special general convention would not send a good message since President Deuba has already given him the responsibility of acting president.

‘In this struggle of trying to reduce 54 percent to 30, on the other hand, trying to increase it to 60, the party has become a prisoner of indecision. The party could not go into national issues and preparations for the election, so I proposed to call a special general convention in the meeting itself and discuss policy formulation,’ Karki said, ‘Otherwise, the party is heading towards an accident.’

Establishment leader Min Bishwakarma, who is also the head of the party’s publicity department, also stressed the need to hold a regular general convention before the election. ‘It would be good if the Central Working Committee unanimously decides to hold a special general convention, otherwise the party will not be in a comfortable situation. Regular convention will bring enthusiasm, desire and transformation in party life, while general elections will fill the people with hope,’ Bishwakarma added, ‘Let’s prepare for the election through the general convention. This means announcing the date of the general convention before the election.’

Since then, moderate leader Shekhar Koirala has still been advocating for a regular general convention before the election. Koirala, who is not in favor of a special general convention, has been taking a stand for a regular general convention, expressing concern that in the absence of a regular general convention, he would be legally forced to call a special general convention and that it could lead to a split in the party. His close co-general secretaries Jeevan Pariyar and Badri Pandey had expressed the view that a regular general convention schedule should be brought before the election.

The establishment party, which is not in favor of the seven former office bearers, and members close to Shekhar Koirala are still in favor of holding a regular general convention by the end of Poush.

Member Minendra Rijal said that if the establishment party takes the stance of holding a regular general convention in Baisakh, then there is no alternative to a special general convention. Even after two months since the Gen-G movement dislodged the two-party coalition and dissolved the parliament and formed an electoral government, the Congress is still indecisive.

Some leaders are trying to make President Deuba active again by pointing to this. Deuba had given the responsibility of acting president to Vice President Khadka in the central working committee meeting on 28 Asoj. On the other hand, the Congress has not even been able to formally decide to go for the election.

Another group in favor of the restoration of the House of Representatives

Since the party's Central Working Committee meeting has already called the dissolution of the House of Representatives unconstitutional, we have started signing so that the party can formulate an agenda for the restoration of the House of Representatives to correct it: Shyam Ghimire, Chief Whip of the outgoing parliamentary party Amid the dilemma of the general convention, another signature campaign has been launched within the Congress in favor of the restoration of the House of Representatives. According to Shyam Ghimire, the then Chief Whip of the parliamentary party, signatures of more than 50 members of the dissolved parliament have been collected. Ghimire said that preparations are underway to present it at the Central Working Committee meeting on Wednesday. 'Since the party's Central Working Committee meeting has already called the dissolution of the House of Representatives unconstitutional, we have started signing so that the party can formulate an agenda for the restoration of the House of Representatives to correct it,' Ghimire said, 'Some friends have expressed their views in the meeting today.' Our demand is that if the party does not take a decision on this, we should be allowed to file a writ petition in court.’

The agenda for the restoration of the House of Representatives has also been included in the meeting since Tuesday. Among the leaders who signed in favor of the restoration of the House of Representatives are members close to leader Shekhar Koirala. However, Koirala has been in favor of elections. Almost all the leaders who spoke before were in favor of elections. Chairman Deuba also expressed the view that an exit should be found through elections in the meeting on 28 Asoj. However, sources claim that Deuba has also shown flexibility in favor of restoring the parliament after his dialogue with UML Chairman KP Oli. It is said that signatures are being collected under his instructions.

Central member Deepak Giri, who signed the petition, said that since the parliament is the only way to correct unconstitutional steps, the demands of Gen-G should be addressed through the restoration of the House of Representatives. He stressed on bringing a regular general convention schedule within Mangsir to address the sentiments of the delegates who signed the special general convention.

‘Why do people vote for an unreformed Congress? Apologizing for its shortcomings, the Congress should now go to the doorsteps of the people with a new leadership selection, policies and programs,’ Giri said.

General secretaries on homework for the special general convention

While the central working committee meeting has been indecisive for a long time, Congress general secretaries Thapa and Sharma are busy doing homework for the special general convention. General secretary Thapa is also discussing with Congress-affiliated legal professionals on Monday about the procedure to move forward with the special general convention.

54 percent of the general convention delegates have already registered an application with their signatures for the special general convention at the party central office on 29 Asoj. The statute provides that a special general convention can be called with the signatures of at least 40 percent of the representatives. There is a mandatory provision that if such a demand is made with signatures, a special general convention must be called within three months.

However, the seven former office bearers of the establishment party, showing the majority of the central working committee, are adamant that the special general convention should be postponed, saying that there is no justification for it. The leaders of the establishment party, dissatisfied with their stance, are saying that the special general convention cannot be postponed. 'The proposal brought by Rameshji in particular was middle-of-the-road.' It was proposed to hold the general convention within the first week of Poush, that the coordinators of the election and active membership investigation committees be taken by both the establishment party, and that the members should also be majority of the establishment party. If it is not possible, then the general convention will be held anyway after the date is fixed, and the date should not be fixed under any circumstances,' said a leader from the establishment party, 'If the regular general convention cannot be held, the 54 percent signatory representatives cannot be ignored. We should go for a special general convention.'