Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba appears ready to hold a regular general convention by mid-December. He has come out in favor of a regular general convention after the demand for a special general convention could not be statutorily met. Deuba has already instructed acting president Purna Bahadur Khadka to bring the agenda for the regular general convention.

In the series of discussions that have been going on by repeatedly postponing the Central Working Committee meetings, President Deuba has been insisting that he will not attend the special general convention under any circumstances. According to close leaders, he wants to take leave from the regular general convention. In the discussion held at his residence on Saturday, Deuba urged everyone to attend the regular general convention.

General Secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwaprakash Sharma had even put forward the option of the President himself calling a special general convention, ignoring the signatures of 54 percent of the delegates. In Saturday's discussion, the General Secretaries had repeated the same thing. 'You yourself call a special general convention. Let's hold a special general convention under your chairmanship. Let's hold the 15th general convention after the elections,' the General Secretaries said, 'Where does this bring you any respect?' How will the party split?'

Former office bearers Krishna Prasad Sitaula and Bimalendra Nidhi have challenged Deuba's stance of holding a regular general convention by mid-May. There was some friction between Deuba and them for some time. Nidhi had said that the majority of the central working committee members would not accept any kind of general convention schedule in May. According to Nidhi, 90 central members of the establishment party in the 165-member central working committee are in favor of holding the general convention in Baisakh after the elections.

‘The president should stop the special general convention at any cost, for that I have no objection to holding the regular general convention in Poush, let’s agree to hold the general convention regularly in Poush,’ he told Kantipur, ‘We told the president that we do not accept the pre-election agenda.’

After Nidhi and Sitaula’s disagreement, acting president Khadka has postponed the central working committee meeting scheduled for Sunday to Monday to do more homework. ‘Now the ball is back in the court of the acting president. The agenda he brings will determine whether the general convention will be held before the election or not,’ said a leader participating in the discussion.

The general secretaries in favor of the special general convention have said that they will accept it only if the agenda comes with the assurance of holding the general convention. They say that the demand for the special general convention cannot be withdrawn if the agenda comes. ‘We have sought a general convention, not a schedule. When the chairman himself said that we should hold a regular general convention together, we had no objection. But the signature of a special general convention cannot be withdrawn,’ General Secretary Thapa told Kantipur, ‘Even if it is not regular before the elections, there will be a special convention. We should go to the elections with new leadership and new policies. That is in the interest of the party. We are not disturbed by this in the slightest.’

In Saturday’s discussion, after Chairman Deuba said that he would hold a regular general convention, General Secretary Thapa reminded that if the general convention is not held on time, a special general convention will be mandatory again.

‘The demand for a special general convention cannot be a matter of the whims of the chairman and the acting chairman.’ "I cannot say whether I will do it or not, I have to do it," Thapa had said. "I was not allowed to bring the regular general convention schedule a month and a half ago. I felt humiliated when the meeting was postponed for so long. If a proposal is made to ensure the general convention, I will support it, if not, I will oppose it."

Nidhi said that he would only accept the proposal brought by the acting president if it agrees with his views. "I don't know whether the acting president will bring the proposal with consultation or without consultation. We will not agree if the agenda is within the mid-Poush period. We will decide how to oppose it only after the proposal is received," he said.

After the general secretaries left President Deuba's residence, there was a separate dialogue between the leaders of the establishment party. A leader informed that there was a discussion about bringing the agenda within the mid-Poush period.

After returning from Singapore on 28 Kartik, Deuba has been continuously working to resolve the dispute related to the general convention. ‘After sending his name and signature to the Election Commission to distribute tickets himself, there has been a situation of suspicion within the party about the role of the president. Recently, Deuba is aware that if the regular general convention is not held within December, he will be forced to call a special general convention,’ said a central member close to him. ‘He is of the opinion that a special convention should not be held. This will not only remove him but also cause the party to split.’

Sitaula, on the other hand, says that there should be no dispute within the party when there are only three months left for the election. He insists that the central office bearers should leave the matter of the general convention and bring the election-related program to the meeting. ‘What is the new agenda of the Congress? What is the new policy? The closed list of proportional representation will have to be submitted on December 13, and there is now a month for that. Candidates had to be selected. Recommendations had to come from the region, district and province. A parliamentary board had to be formed. "That decision had to be made," he said, "but the process has not started yet. UML has organized programs across the country. The Maoists have gone to the districts. The Madhesi parties are also active in their own way. We have only called the cadres to Kathmandu."