KP Sharma Oli and Ishwor Pokharel, who are contesting for the post of UML chairman in the 11th general convention, are preparing for the panel. The convention is being held in Kathmandu from 10-12 December.

Senior Vice President Pokharel, who is going to contest for the post of President from the non-establishment party, was in the establishment party's favor in the previous general convention. Although preparations were made to put forward former President Bidya Bhandari from the other party, Pokharel is going to rise under the leadership after her membership renewal was stopped. Vice Presidents Yubaraj Gyawali, Ashtalakshmi Shakya, Surendra Pandey, secretaries Gokarna Bista, Yogesh Bhattarai and standing committee member Karna Thapa have come out in favor of Pokharel. 

Secretary Raghubir Mahaseth is waiting for attractive 'offers' from both parties. He has not come out anywhere yet. 'I have not decided on filing candidacy yet,' Mahaseth said, 'It is not right to speculate that this party or that party is outside.' Along with Pokharel from the non-establishment party, Surendra Pandey or Yogesh Bhattarai are preparing to rise as General Secretary along with Pokharel. 

In a situation where Oli is the President and Shankar Pokharel is the General Secretary, Pokharel is preparing to rise as President and Pandey as General Secretary from the other party. If Pradeep Gyawali files his candidacy for the post of General Secretary from the establishment, Yogesh Bhattarai is preparing to contest from the other side. Gyawali is an aspirant for the post of General Secretary. Vice President duo Yubaraj Gyawali and Ashtalakshmi Shakya, who are on the other side, have not shown interest in repeating.

As the list of candidates for the establishment side will come from Chairman Oli's 'pocket', aspiring leaders are looking to him. Vice President Bishnu Poudel had said on Wednesday that he would be a candidate for other posts besides the President and General Secretary. Deputy Secretary General Prithvi Subba Gurung is an aspirant for the post of General Secretary. He has not yet decided what to do if the establishment does not provide a General Secretary. 'I am a contender for the post of General Secretary this time. I can run the party organization well,' he claimed in a meeting with Oli.

Oli faces a challenge in managing leaders as the UML statute provides for the creation of 15 office bearers. There are many aspiring leaders for the posts of three Deputy General Secretaries and seven Secretaries. Ram Bahadur Thapa, Guru Baral, and Bishnu Rimal are likely to be the Vice Presidents from the establishment. Lekhraj Bhatta, Raghubir Mahaseth, Chhabilal Bishwakarma and Padma Aryal are aspiring for the post of Deputy General Secretary. A dozen leaders are aspiring for the post of seven secretaries. Among them are Bhim Prasad Acharya, Khagraj Adhikari, Bhanubhakta Dhakal, Kiran Gurung, Kashinath Adhikari, Mahesh Basnet, Raghu Pant, Sherdhan Rai, Rajan Bhattarai, Agni Kharel, Rajendra Gautam, Hikmat Karki, and leaders from the youth group Surya Thapa, Neeraj Acharya, Padam Giri, Vishal Bhattarai and others. Currently, apart from the office bearers, most of the 23 standing committees are aspiring for the post of secretary. 

Politburo member Gokul Baskota is preparing to file an independent candidacy without going anywhere. ‘Since the general convention delegates vote secretly, why should I start talking about establishment or displacement now?’ He said, ‘I will compete for office bearers.’

Senior Vice President Pokharel’s side is preparing to file candidacies for the posts of Deputy General Secretary, Karna Thapa, Binda Pandey, Thakur Gaire, Rachana Khadka for the posts of Secretary. Preparations are underway to announce the timing of filing candidacies for the posts of Vice President and other office bearers. ‘There will be candidacies for all posts from the Pokharel side,’ Pokharel’s side leader Karna Thapa said, ‘We are doing serious homework. There is no problem in forming a team.’ Politburo member Mahesh Basnet said that they will file candidacies as per Chairman Oli’s instructions. ‘We will file candidacies as per the Chairman’s instructions. So far, only the Chairman’s candidacy has been finalized,’ he said, ‘It will be finalized in a moment on the day other candidacies are filed.’ After Oli formed his ‘panel,’ the Pokharel side has formulated a strategy to form a team. 

Senior Vice President Pokharel said that discussions are underway to form a team. ‘We will discuss what kind of team to form. It is natural for those who share similar views to come together. Friends can move forward by joining together.’ He informed that he has the support of former President Bhandari, ‘Vidya Bhandari is a member of the CPN-UML. He is a person who wishes the best for the UML. Therefore, it is natural for such a person to support friends who are talking about taking the party forward in a new way. He has expressed solidarity and support for our candidacy.’

He said that Oli should now take leave as he has done a lot of work as the party president. ‘From 072 BS to 082 BS, he became the Prime Minister for about six years in the 10 years after the constitution was promulgated. He also received many important opportunities and contributed. Along with this, there were also weaknesses,’ he said, ‘He (Oli) should not continue, now it is better to stay as a guardian, as a protector.’

If the 70-year age limit and the provision of two terms had not been removed from the Bhadau Legislative Convention, Oli and Pokharel would have dropped out of the race. This provision was removed after Oli wanted to be the president for a third term. The statutory general convention reduced the number of office bearers from 19 to 15. The national general convention will elect a 251-member central committee, including the president, 3 vice-presidents, general secretary, 3 deputy general secretaries, and 7 secretaries, and the provincial committee chairmen will be ex-officio members.

Pokharel, who announced that he would contest against Oli, had previously played a decisive role in the election by supporting the establishment. In the eighth general convention held in Falgun 2065, there was a competition between Oli and Jhalanath Khanal for the presidency. At that time, Oli was defeated by Khanal. Ishwor Pokharel was elected as the general secretary.

In the ninth general convention held in Kathmandu in Asad 2071, Oli was elected as the president when there was a competition between Oli and Madhav Kumar Nepal. Pokharel was elected as the general secretary. Similarly, in the 10th general convention held in Mangsir 2078, there was a competition between Oli and Bhim Rawal. At that time, Oli was elected for a second term. Pokharel was elected as the senior vice-president and Shankar Pokharel as the general secretary. Pokharel played a role in helping Khanal win the eighth general convention and Oli win the ninth general convention. At the request of Oli in the tenth general convention, he was unanimously elected as the senior vice-president.