After three days of failed attempts to prevent a split in the Congress, the special general convention elected a new central working committee under the leadership of Gagan Thapa on Wednesday. The new working committee was elected by the special general convention within hours of the Sher Bahadur Deuba faction's central working committee taking action against leaders Gagan Thapa, Bishwaprakash Sharma and Farmullah Mansur. With this, the Congress has split.

Bishwoprakash Sharma and Pushpa Bhusal have been elected as party vice-presidents. The special general convention has elected Pradeep Poudel and Gururaj Ghimire as general secretaries unopposed. Poudel was defeated by Deuba's panel for the general secretary position in the 14th general convention. Ghimire is the leader who launched the signature campaign for the special general convention. Thapa was the general secretary when Ghimire was the president of the Nepali Sangh.

Dila Sangraula (woman), Prakash Rasaili (Dalit), Bahadur Singh Lama (tribal), Udaya Shamsher Jabra (Khas Arya), Muktakumari Yadav (Madhesi), Farmullah Mansur (Muslim), Yogendra Chaudhary (Tharu) and Karna Bahadur Budha (backward regions) have been elected as joint general secretaries. The special general convention has elected 121 people as central members.

After being elected as president, Thapa announced that Sher Bahadur Deuba's chapter in the party was over. He said that he has been freed from the Congress faction. ‘A new tradition has begun where all active members and the president of the Congress are equal,’ he said. 

Stating that they have been emphasizing for years that the party should be reformed and placed in the right place, he mentioned that this time they have taken a risk for that.

The Congress split after the establishment faction was not ready to listen to the demand of the special general convention supporters that Deuba should not be active in the executive role. This has caused waves not only in the internal life of the Congress but also in the entire Nepali politics. Now, two parallel central working committees led by Thapa and Deuba are facing each other. A dispute has also arisen over who will get the party’s flag and election symbol tree.

The dispute over legitimacy is seen reaching the Election Commission and the Supreme Court. Both sides have submitted their claims to the Election Commission. The Thapa-led group has submitted a file with the signatures of the majority representatives to update the working committee elected from the special general convention. The Deuba faction has submitted a letter to the commission informing that ‘no formal program was held in the name of the Congress Party on 26-28 Poush’.

The Congress had split 23 years ago. Deuba was the main character in the split at that time as well. Deuba had split the party in 2059 and formed the ‘Nepali Congress (Democratic)’. Five years later, the two parties were united. The first split in the Congress took place in 2010. At that time, the ‘National Praja Party’ was formed under the leadership of Matrika Prasad Koirala, who had separated from the Congress. The Congress and the Praja Party were united after three years.

Before proceeding with the voting process for the selection of a new working committee at the special general convention, the Deuba faction held a central working committee meeting in Sanepa on Tuesday afternoon and took action against General Secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwaprakash Sharma and Joint General Secretary Farmullah Mansur by not even being ordinary members for five years. The process of asking them for an explanation was not followed to take action.

Thapa, Sharma and Mansur addressed the special general convention hall immediately after the decision to take action in Sanepa. Thapa said that since the special general convention was held within the ambit of the constitution and law, the election symbol and the party flag would be with them. ‘This special general convention was held based on faith in the constitution and law. Whatever it decides, the constitution respects it. The Election Commission respects it,’ he said, ‘My friends, what will happen to the tree and flag? The Congress is one. It is here in the Bhrikuti Mandap. It will stand for this. No one will take it away. Wherever the special general convention is held, we will stand there. Wherever the Congress is, the tree and flag will be there.’

Sharma also expressed confidence that the Election Commission would uphold the decision taken by the special general convention in accordance with the party statute and law. He said that there was nothing wrong in asking President Deuba to step down from the leadership to give new life to the Congress and make it a party trusted by the common people. ‘The Congress should go in the upcoming elections as one. Is it wrong to say that the entire Congress will go in one piece when the president leaves? Is it wrong to say that the Nepali Congress will field candidates in 165 places without joining hands with other parties?’ He said, ‘We said that the Congress should stand in one piece in 165 places in the upcoming elections and vote on the tree symbol. Is it wrong to say that we should declare the Prime Minister’s candidate and go? Shouldn’t we take action instead of forming the Congress and making rules and going? After the leaders’ addresses, the special general convention had announced the dissolution of the Deuba-led central working committee and started the process of selecting a new working committee. 

This did not stop the division

After the Gen-G movement, the then general secretaries of the Congress, Gagan Thapa and Bishwaprakash Sharma, demanded that a regular general convention be held within Mangsir. Since the establishment party was not in the mood to hold a general convention before the House of Representatives elections on 21 Falgun, a signature campaign was started for the purpose of calling a special general convention. In fact, signature collection was started as a strategy to create pressure to hold a regular general convention within Mangshir.

A petition was registered at the central office on 29 Asoj, demanding a special general convention with the signatures of 54 percent of the representatives. Article 17(2) of the party statute has two provisions for calling a special general convention. First, the Central Working Committee can call it if it deems it necessary. Second, if 40 percent of the representatives make a written request, a special general convention must be called within three months.

The Central Working Committee, which has a majority of the establishment party, ignored this provision in the statute. To blunt the demand for a special general convention, the meeting of 15 Mangshir brought a schedule for holding the 15th general convention from 26-28 Pus. After the work performance committee revised the schedule on 18 Pus and decided to hold the general convention from 28-31 Baisakh, the then general secretaries Thapa and Sharma called a special general convention at Bhrikutimandap.

The establishment party and leader Shekhar Koirala's party had made efforts to prevent the presence of a majority of representatives in the special general convention. Despite that, about 56 percent of the representatives participated in the special general convention. There is a provision for a quorum of 51 percent for any meeting and convention of the party.

While Thapa was busy with the homework for the special general convention, Sharma was busy with the preparation for the special general convention and efforts to reach a consensus through dialogue. Since the special general convention was called on 23 Poush, the formulas for consensus were being exchanged informally. During this, discussions were held to ensure that the central working committee would take ownership of the special general convention.

Sharma had made a lot of efforts to get President Deuba to participate in the opening ceremony of the special general convention on 27 Poush. But Deuba had been rejecting the request to take ownership of the special general convention until 28 Poush. After the presence of a majority of representatives in the special general convention, the establishment party came under pressure.

After the closed session of the special general convention passed the procedure for dissolving the central working committee and electing a new central working committee, there was more pressure. After that, Deuba sent a proposal to give Gagan-Bishwa 40 percent of the tickets directly in the House of Representatives elections through Balkrishna Khand and Ramesh Lekhak. But Thapa and Sharma did not accept the division.

After that, Deuba seemed ready to take ownership of the special general convention and implement the proposals passed by the general convention. The demand of the delegates participating in the special general convention was a change of leadership. An informal working group was formed between the two parties on the night of 12th December to discuss the issue. It included Khand and Lekhak from the establishment party and Minendra Rijal and Jeevan Pariyar from the Shekhar Koirala party. Pradeep Poudel, Gururaj Ghimire, Devraj Chalise and Madhu Acharya from the special general convention party.

On the night of 12th December, talks were held with the general secretaries at the residence of acting president Purna Bahadur Khadka. More than a dozen district presidents close to Koirala also prepared a middle-of-the-road proposal. They had prepared a middle-of-the-road proposal to remove Deuba from the executive role by sitting with leaders who favored the special general convention. It called for taking ownership of the special general convention, implementing the decisions it passed, removing President Deuba from the executive role, and sending the name and signature of Acting President Khadka to the Election Commission in place of the president and updating it. Deuba flatly rejected the proposal sent through Koirala.

After the election program for the formation of a new central working committee from the special general convention was made public on 12 December, the establishment party came under further pressure. After that, continuous dialogue began at various levels. The meeting of the task force on 12 December was held at a house in Lazimpat. After the meeting there until around 12 noon, another meeting was held at the house of a Congress worker in Maharajgunj. The meeting lasted until 6 pm. By then, an understanding had been reached to take ownership of the special general convention, implement its decisions, and form a parliamentary board to distribute tickets based on consensus.

The leaders in favor of the special general convention had given three options on the issue of leadership. To select a new leadership from the special general convention, the president would resign and hold an election only for the post of president, and to accept the person put forward by the establishment party as the leader. However, the establishment party's Khand and Lekhak insisted that these three options should not be followed. Then, the leaders in favor of the special general convention proposed that a five-member 'high command' should be formed to keep the president separate from the executive role, including the acting president, two general secretaries, and two other leaders, to run the party in a new way, and that President Deuba should not contest the upcoming elections.

Since the issue of whether or not to contest the parliamentary elections is a personal right, the leaders in favor of the general convention later removed such a demand. They made the formation of a 'high command' the 'bottom line'. Leader Sharma included the demand to keep the 21 Falgun election as the centerpiece and also include the name of the future Prime Minister on Wednesday morning. On Wednesday morning, Thapa and Sharma met Deuba and reiterated the 8-point demand. President Deuba and his close associates did not accept it. After that, Thapa and Sharma left. Even after that, telephone conversations were being held between the two sides for an agreement.

The establishment party had called a central working committee meeting on Tuesday after preparing a decision to be made in the event of an agreement and in the event of no agreement. Tuesday's meeting was called at 8 am on Wednesday because the talks were ongoing. The meeting was delayed and only convened around 3 pm. Shortly before the meeting began, Sharma had sent an 8-point proposal. Acting President Khadka had informed the meeting about it.

During the final tug-of-war on Wednesday, Deuba had sent a message to the Election Commission that he was ready to update the name and signature of Acting President Khadka to be used. But the Deuba faction was not ready to separate from the party's executive and form a 'high command' and declare the future prime minister. 'The main thing was that the president would not sign the ticket. The president said that if it is allowed by law and rules, I am ready to withdraw my signature. But they did not accept that either. The problem arose when demands were added to demands,' said leader Lekhak, who was involved in continuous negotiations on behalf of Deuba. 'The issue of forming a high command and not contesting the presidency in the upcoming parliamentary elections had already been dropped by the general convention supporters on Tuesday.'

Leader Pradeep Poudel, who participated in the talks on behalf of the special general convention, said that they had put forward a middle-of-the-road proposal amid the compulsion to address the situation in some way or the other as the special general convention would not be justified until the message of a change in leadership was given. 'But after he refused, it has become clear that the president is trying to remain in the executive role,' he said.

The election program of the special general convention was postponed to Bhrikutimandap in the hope that Deuba would be flexible. तर केन्द्रीय कार्यसमितिले थापा, शर्मा र फरमुल्लाह मन्सुरमाथि कारबाही गरेपछि पार्टीले औपचारिक विभाजनको बाटो लिन पुगेको थियो । आफूमाथि कारबाहीको निर्णय सार्वजनिक भएलगत्तै शर्माले सामाजिक सञ्जालमार्फत कडा प्रतिक्रिया दिएका थिए । उनले बुधबार बिहान मात्रै सहमतिका लागि सभापति देउवासमक्ष प्रस्तुत गरिएका ८ बुँदे प्रस्ताव सार्वजनिक गर्दै प्रश्न गरे, ‘यसमा कुन बुँदा देश र पार्टीको अहितमा थियो ?’ ती ८ बुँदामा मुख्य गरी आगामी निर्वाचनमा एक्लै लड्ने (गठबन्धन नगर्ने), संसदीय बोर्ड गठन गर्ने र प्रधानमन्त्रीको उम्मेदवार घोषणा गरेर निर्वाचनमा जाने रहेको शर्माले उल्लेख गरेका छन् ।

नेताहरूका अनुसार देउवाले सक्रिय राजनीतिबाट अवकाश लिन अस्वीकार गरेपछि नै कांग्रेस विभाजनतर्फ मोडिएको हो । जेन–जी आन्दोलनपछिको फरक राजनीतिक परिदृश्यमा ८२ वर्षीय देउवाले कम्तीमा सक्रिय राजनीतिबाट अलग हुनुपर्ने अडान थापा र शर्माले राख्दै आएका थिए । २८ असोजको केन्द्रीय कार्यसमिति बैठकमा सक्रिय राजनीति नगर्ने भन्दै देउवा स्वास्थ्य उपचारका लागि सिंगापुर गएका थिए । तर फर्किएपछि उनले कार्यकारी भूमिकामा काम गर्न थालेका थिए । निर्वाचन आयोगमा उम्मेदवारको मनोनयन प्रमाणीकरणका लागि देउवाकै नाम पठाइएपछि थापा र शर्मा असन्तुष्ट थिए ।

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शृंखलाबद्ध वार्ता

पुस २७ : बिहानदेखि सभापति शेरबहादुर देउवा र कार्यवाहक सभापति पूर्णबहादुर खड्कालाई विशेष महाधिवेशनको स्वामित्व लिएर उपस्थित भइदिन गगन थापा र विश्वप्रकाश शर्माको पटक–पटक आग्रह । देउवा, खड्का, उनीहरूका प्रतिनिधिहरू बालकृष्ण खाण, रमेश लेखकसँग अनौपचारिक संवाद । देउवालाई विशेष महाधिवेशनमा सहभागी गराउने प्रयास असफल । अर्को दिन हुने बन्दसत्रमा ल्याउन बेलुकादेखि पुनः अनौपचारिक संवाद । विशेष महाधिवेशनको पार्टीले स्वामित्व लिने विषयमा सहमतिको प्रयास, देउवाबाट अस्वीकार । 

पुस २८ : बिहान १० बजे बन्दसत्र सुरु । बिहानै शेखर कोइरालाको मध्यस्थता प्रयास । कोइरालानिकट जिल्ला सभापतिहरू र विशेष महाधिवेशन पक्षधरको सहमतिमा मध्यमार्गी प्रस्ताव तयार । प्रस्ताव लिएर कोइराला देउवा निवासमा । देउवाबाट मध्यमार्गी प्रस्ताव अस्वीकार । राति १० बजे अनौपचारिक कार्यदले सार्वजनिक । देउवा पक्षबाट बालकृष्ण खाण, रमेश लेखक, शेखर पक्षबाट मीनेन्द्र रिजाल, जीवन परियार, विशेष महाधिवेशन पक्षधरबाट प्रदीप पौडेल, गुरुराज घिमिरे, देवराज चालिसे, मधु आचार्य वार्ता टोली । राति साढे १० बजे गगन थापा र विश्वप्रकाश शर्माद्वारा कार्यवाहक सभापति खड्कालाई भेटेर ‘बटमलाइन’ प्रस्ताव । कार्यदलको बैठक हुन नसकेपछि महाधिवेशन अवधि एक दिन थप ।