This is the third major split in the nearly eight-decade history of the Nepali Congress, with a profound impact. Deuba's role has led to two major splits, one now and one in 2059. Before that, in 2010, Matrika Prasad Koirala split the party and formed the 'Rastry Praja Party'.
What you should know
The conflict between the Sher Bahadur Deuba faction and the Special General Convention faction has finally split the Congress. This is the third major split to have a profound impact on the Congress's nearly eight-decade history. Although there have been many individual and small splits before, they have not caused much damage to the party.
There has been a major split in Deuba's role twice, now and in 2059. In 2059, he split the Congress by turning the gathering he called into a general convention. This time, the Congress split when Deuba took action against the general secretary and joint general secretary who led the special general convention.
During the special general convention that has been going on since December 27 under the leadership of Gagan Thapa and Bishwaprakash Sharma at Bhrikuti Mandap in Kathmandu, the central committee of the Deuba faction has taken action against Thapa and Sharma, who are general secretaries, and joint general secretary Farmullah Mansur. They have been suspended from being ordinary members for 5 years.
However, it has been announced that the action has been revoked by the special general convention. Thapa has also stated that the special general convention has already dissolved the central working committee. He said that their Congress is official. On the other hand, the Deuba faction has sent a letter to the Election Commission stating that it did not hold a special general convention.
2010: The first split under the leadership of Matrika Prasad Koirala
After the Mohan Shumsher Jabra-led government formed on 7 Falgun 2007 with the declaration of democracy collapsed, Congress President Matrika Prasad Koirala became the Prime Minister. At that time, BP Koirala had wanted to become the Prime Minister but failed. After the government was formed, disagreements increased between his brother Matrika and his brother BP.
BP had been of the opinion that Matrika should leave the position of President and play only the role of Prime Minister. He said, ‘Only the party can stop the government’s arbitrariness when there is no parliament, so Matrika should leave the leadership of the party.’ But Matrika was not ready. This dispute ended when BP was elected President at the fifth general convention held in Janakpur on 10 Jestha 2009.
After the capture of Singha Durbar under the leadership of Dr. KI Singh, the government’s decisions such as banning the Nepal Communist Party and calling the Indian military mission to Nepal continued the disagreement. Matrika did not show much interest in holding elections as per the assigned responsibilities when he became the Prime Minister. Meanwhile, he did not implement the party's instructions to reshuffle the cabinet. He argued that the party should not give instructions to the Prime Minister. As arguments and counterarguments continued through correspondence, ministers close to BP, Subarna Shamsher, Surya Prasad Upadhyay and Ganeshman Singh, resigned.
The Central Working Committee meeting held on 8th Shrawan 2009 had given a 48-hour ultimatum to the Prime Minister and other Congress ministers to resign. After rejecting it, the Central Working Committee meeting held on 11th Shrawan suspended Prime Minister Matrika Prasad Koirala, ministers Mahendra Bikram Shah, Mahabir Shamsher and Naradmuni Thulung from being active members of the Congress for three years. This decision was later approved by the Mahasamiti meeting. Shortly after the suspension, Prime Minister Matrika also resigned.
After being suspended from the party, on 21 Bhadra 2009, a ‘Nepali Congress Ad Hoc Committee’ was announced under the chairmanship of Matrika. It included leaders such as Mahendra Bikram Shah, Naradmuni Thulung, Mahabir Shamsher and others. The following year, on 15-17 Baisakh 2010, this faction organized a conference and the ‘National Praja Party’ was announced under the chairmanship of Matrika. This was the first major split in the Congress. Matrika became Prime Minister for the second time from the same party. Finally, in Asoj 2013, he merged the Praja Party into the Congress.
Suvarna Shamsher, who was elected president at the sixth general convention held in Magh 2012, dissolved the old working committee and parliamentary board on 14 Mangsir 2013. He formed a new central working committee on 3 Poush 2013. Then, on 8 Chaitra 2013, a conference of district presidents and secretaries of the Congress was held in Rajbiraj, Saptari. From the conference, President Shamsher passed a proposal to hold a special general convention in Biratnagar. On 10 Jestha 2014, the first special general convention of the Nepali Congress was held in Biratnagar, from which BP became the president again.
2059: Division under Deuba's leadership
On 7 Shrawan 2058, Sher Bahadur Deuba was appointed Prime Minister for the second time. The Maoist armed war was going on in the country. The Deuba-led government had declared a state of emergency, which was to last until 11 Jestha 2059. There was a dispute over whether or not to extend the state of emergency. The opposition UML did not approve the proposal to extend the term from the House of Representatives, and there was no consensus within the Nepali Congress either.
The government had registered a proposal to extend the state of emergency by 6 months with the Parliament Secretariat on 3 Jestha 2059. After that, disagreements began in the Nepali Congress. On 7th Jestha, Prime Minister Deuba was asked for a 24-hour explanation under the signature of General Secretary Sushil Koirala, "Why not say that such activities that ignore and devalue the party have disrespected the minimum values, norms, culture and traditions of the democratic party system?" Deuba replied on 8th Jestha by saying that he had not taken any decision by going beyond the party's decision.
The Central Working Committee meeting on 8th Jestha directed the government to withdraw the proposal registered in Parliament. Deuba was also criticized in the parliamentary party meeting held on the same day. Deuba, who reached the royal palace in the evening of the same day, recommended the dissolution of the House of Representatives. The then King Gyanendra Shah also immediately implemented the dissolution and set a mid-term. Angered by Deuba's move, Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala called on the party members in the Council of Ministers to resign within three days. Some resigned, while others stood by Deuba.
Meanwhile, on 9th Jestha, the Central Disciplinary Committee immediately suspended the then Prime Minister Deuba from being an ordinary member of the party and sent him a three-day explanation letter. Deuba replied to the Disciplinary Committee on 11th Jestha. However, the next day, the Disciplinary Committee found the explanation submitted by Deuba to be 'unreasonable and the fact that the House of Representatives was dissolved without informing the party was against the principles of the party system and seriously violated the party's objectives, policies, code of conduct and statute.' He was also expelled from the party as an ordinary member for three years. Deuba also appealed to the Central Working Committee, requesting that the action be withdrawn. But it was not heard.
Meanwhile, on 2nd Ashad, 2059, Deuba called a meeting of his party's general convention representatives. He turned the meeting called to pressure Koirala into a general convention. On 4th Ashad, it was decided to remove Koirala from the presidency from this general convention. On 5th Ashad, Deuba was elected as the president. But the Koirala faction gained legitimacy and Deuba's party became the Nepali Congress Democratic. Thus, a second major split occurred in the Congress. Later, the Congress Democratic also merged with the Congress in Asoj 2064.
2082: Another major split due to Deuba's actions
The root of the third major split in the Congress is linked to the Gen-G movement of 23 and 24 Bhadra 2082. Congress General Secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwaprakash Sharma had raised their voices saying that the movement sought policy and leadership changes in politics. Against the backdrop of their increasing pressure saying that the Congress should be changed, signatures were collected for a special general convention in the Congress. On 29 Asoj, a petition was submitted to Acting President Purna Bahadur Khadka with the signatures of 54 percent of the general convention delegates demanding a special general convention.
Meanwhile, on 15 Mangesh, the Congress Central Working Committee had set the date for the regular general convention for 26-29 Pus. But the Deuba-supporting leaders were also expressing their opposition to the regular general convention. After the work did not progress as per the schedule of the general convention, General Secretaries Thapa and Sharma called for a special general convention.
The general convention supporters have said that 56 percent of the delegates participated in the special general convention that has been going on since December 11. While the special general convention was going on, talks were held between the special general convention side and the Deuba side. After the talks held on December 11-12 failed to reach an agreement, the Deuba side took a step forward and took action against the general secretaries Thapa and Sharma and joint general secretary Mansur.
Announcing the decision of the meeting, Deuba side leader Min Bahadur Bishwakarma said that they have been disciplined. He said that action has been taken against them by making them members of the Congress as per Article 22, Clause 20 and Clause (8) of Article 34, Clause (d) (e) of the Nepali Congress Statute 2017 (with amendments).
After such action, both sides have refused to interpret it as a party split and have said that they are the official Congress. But this is the starting point for every party split. Earlier, the Congress had suffered a split due to misunderstandings between the government and the party. This time, the Congress has split due to the struggle between those who want and those who do not want reforms within the party. Earlier, both the parties formed through the split had merged into the original Congress over time.
