Leaders in favor of a special general convention of the Congress have questioned leader Shekhar Koirala as to why he abandoned the issue of a special general convention that he himself had initiated.

Koirala had called some signatories, including office bearers of his party, to the liaison office in Bishalnagar on Saturday morning and urged them to back down. Devraj Chalise, the leader of the signatory campaign, said that he could not back down from the special general convention he had initiated himself, and instead urged Koirala to take the lead. ‘You cannot back down from the special convention you have initiated yourself. Instead, how can we take ownership of it and turn it into a question of party unity and transformation? How can we make it successful?  How can we create a win-win situation? How can we send representatives back to each district with a positive message? I told him to take that as an opportunity,’ Chalise said, ‘but he did not give a very clear answer.’  

He had urged Koirala to take the lead and organize a special general convention by the party itself, saying that the problem would not be solved by running away from responsibility. ‘We cannot back down even an inch from the special general convention. We have made it clear that we cannot compromise on that,” Chalise added. 

Govinda Pokharel, a central member close to Shekhar, said that despite many efforts, he was forced to accept the majority decision even if he wanted to hold a regular general convention before the election. “I said informally, if possible, let’s do it regularly, if not, let’s do it at the ward level, if that’s not possible, let’s complete the work of active membership and sit down,” Pokharel said, quoting Koirala, “We could not agree on calling a special general convention by the central working committee so that everyone would participate. When that didn’t happen, I was forced to accept the majority decision.” 

Koirala had previously been taking a stance that a regular general convention should be called before the election. He was of the opinion that if it wasn’t regular, the central working committee should call a special general convention. Representatives close to Koirala have also signed the demand for a special general convention. They have started trying to get the signatories close to him to recall it. 

‘It is a legal responsibility to call a special general convention. No one is above the statute. If the party leaders themselves say that they do not respect the statute, if they say that they do not respect the constitution of the country, then this is not appropriate in a democratic system,’ Chalise said, ‘That is why a special general convention is held. This cannot be a matter of anyone’s preference or distaste. Our suggestion to the leaders is that they should move towards following the provisions of the statute.’