Acting President Khadka rejects pressure from seven former establishment officials to postpone the general convention by voting
What you should know
Seven former office bearers of the Nepali Congress establishment have planned to reject the agenda of the 15th General Convention presented by General Secretary Gagan Thapa and pass Joint General Secretary Mahendra Yadav's proposal.
For that, a central member of the establishment party said that they are constantly pressuring to take the proposals of both Thapa and Yadav to a 'voting'.
In the meeting of the Central Working Committee on Kartik 18, General Secretary Thapa presented the agenda for Poush 16-19 and Joint General Secretary Yadav presented the agenda for Baisakh 27-29. Acting President Purna Bahadur Khadka informed that both the agendas were presented individually due to disagreements.
A meeting held in Baneshwor on Saturday at the initiative of seven former office bearers had concluded that the dispute over the general convention should be resolved through 'voting'. Their decision was to reject the proposed schedule before the election from the Central Working Committee, which has a majority of the establishment party, and get Yadav's proposal passed. They also planned to move forward by deciding that the special general convention, which was demanded with the signatures of 54 percent of the general convention delegates, was not necessary. They are increasing pressure on Khadka to move forward with the proposal as per that decision.
Khadka has even replied to them that he will not move forward with the proposal without consensus. In a discussion held between some leaders and general secretaries of the establishment on Saturday, Khadka had informed that he would not move forward with the proposal without consensus.
‘If I am going to move a proposal to hold a general convention in Baisakh, I should also move a proposal to hold a special general convention. A special general convention should be called before the regular one. It should be accepted as per the statute,’ Khadka replied to the request of the seven former office bearers, ‘If you pressure me to unilaterally move a controversial proposal, I will be forced to take any unpleasant decision.’
Khadka has been postponing the meeting of the Central Working Committee, saying that the decision to be taken by the Congress will not be taken forward on the basis of majority and minority. The meeting scheduled for Monday has been postponed again until Thursday. 25 central members of the establishment party are opposed to the seven former office bearers. They have already drawn the written attention of Acting President Khadka, saying that the general convention should be held before the elections.
According to sources, President Sher Bahadur Deuba, who returned from Singapore on Friday, has started talks to resolve the dispute since Sunday, but there is no sign of a solution yet. According to a leader close to him, Deuba is in favor of the regular general convention agenda before the election to avoid the special general convention.
Since changing the leadership from the special general convention would send a message that the president has been removed, he has made up his mind to retire from active politics from the regular general convention. However, as seven former office bearers are increasing pressure to not bring the agenda by mid-May, Deuba has not yet indicated where he stands on this issue.
Deuba was also busy with meetings on Monday. He is also meeting separately with leaders from the establishment party. General secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwaprakash Sharma, who have been raising the issue of the general convention since the Gen-G movement, are now in favor of the special general convention. Thapa and Sharma, who have wasted two months arguing over whether to hold a general convention before the election, have started insisting on holding a special general convention. Sharma had made the same point to President Deuba on Sunday. Sharma had also informed him that he would resign as general secretary if a special general convention was not called.
