Congress President Gagan Thapa has decided to resign from his post, taking moral responsibility for the election results. Thapa informed Congress Vice President Bishwaprakash Sharma on Monday evening that he would resign. A new central working committee was elected under Thapa's leadership from the special general convention held on 27-30 Poush.

Thapa and Vice President Sharma had rebelled within the party, saying that it would not be possible to go to the elections under the leadership of the then President Sher Bahadur Deuba. The party changed its policy and leadership after holding the special general convention amid disagreements between Deuba and his party leaders and entered the elections under Thapa's command.

After the Congress, which entered the elections with the slogan 'Let's change the Congress, let's change the country', failed to bring the expected results, Thapa is going to resign from his post by handing over the responsibility to Vice President Sharma. "It is appropriate for me to step down from the post, taking responsibility for the party's defeat. I resign," Vice President Sharma said, quoting President Thapa.

However, Sharma suggests that the party should be led by Thapa for the revival of the Congress, saying that resignation will not solve the problem. Sharma says that one person is to blame for the defeat of the Congress in the elections and that it is not appropriate to resign when it is time to move on with composure, saying that there was no special general convention. ‘This is our defeat more than the victory of the RSVP, but it is not only one person who is to blame for this, nor is the working committee that came from the special general convention. The new working committee was formed within 5 days of the registration of candidatures and the election was held on the 50th day. Therefore, we should take a comprehensive and detailed review of the defeat and move forward with the situation,’ Sharma suggested to Thapa, ‘We should not let the party get into a more difficult situation by resigning.’

Thapa, who had moved forward aggressively in the elections, has become defensive after being defeated from Sarlahi-4. The Congress has won a total of 18 seats in the direct elections and is getting only around 16 percent of the votes in the proportional elections. Regarding this, some leaders from the opposition faction within the party have increased moral pressure on President Thapa by raising moral questions about the propriety and legitimacy of the special general convention. Some leaders close to him are suggesting that he resign immediately and appoint Vice President Sharma as the acting president and be re-elected as the president from the 15th general convention. 

‘There are two options for the president now. One is to take moral responsibility for the defeat and appoint Vice President Bishwaprakash as the acting president and become the president from the upcoming 15th general convention, or to join the party reconstruction without resigning as requested by the office bearers and members of the Central Working Committee,’ said a central member close to Thapa. ‘But the sentiment of most of the Central Working Committee, including the party Vice President, is that he should not resign.’

The two leaders have discussed calling an immediate Central Working Committee meeting to review the reasons for the defeat in the election and holding the 15th general convention as soon as possible. Thapa is preparing to publicly express his views before calling the Central Working Committee meeting. Congress spokesperson Devraj Chalise said that the Central Working Committee meeting will be called immediately and the election will be reviewed. According to him, there has been some delay in calling the meeting because President Thapa is unwell. ‘Now, the Central Working Committee meeting will be called within two/three days and the review will be held,’ he said. 

Congress has already passed the schedule to hold the 15th General Convention from 28-31 Baisakh. Even if the General Convention cannot be held on the same schedule immediately after the election, preparations for the General Convention will be taken forward from the next meeting, said Vice President Sharma. Since the special General Convention will not be a continuation of the regular General Convention, the Congress will have to hold the 15th General Convention within the next one year.

Political analyst Geja Sharma Wagle, close to Thapa, said that the Congress should immediately call a Central Working Committee meeting, conduct a self-review and take the path to the 15th General Convention in Baisakh or Jestha. ‘It is natural for a leader like Gagan, who has been doing politics of values, ethics and principles, to think of resigning after being defeated in the election, taking moral responsibility. Such examples and traditions make the leadership more democratic, responsible and ethical,' Wagle said, 'But the reason why the Congress is being defeated now is not Gagan's leadership and the policies he has adopted, but the failure, unpopularity and corruption and misrule of the past leadership when the Congress was in power.' 

He said that no leadership can be tested in 50 days. 'Only the leadership was changed through the special general convention. Now the Congress needs to be fundamentally established. For that, Gaganji must set a roadmap for building a new Congress,' Wagle said.

On the other hand, the opposition has started, saying that former President Deuba, then Acting President Purna Bahadur Khadka, former office bearers Krishna Prasad Sitaula, Shashank Koirala, Prakash Man Singh and other leaders who are inactive within the party have not sought votes for the Congress even in their own constituencies. Leaders close to him are now angry after Deuba, who went to Singapore on the eve of the elections, did not even return to cast his vote. In the far west, Deuba did not even seek votes for candidates close to him. 

Even in Dadeldhura, his home district, where he has been winning elections continuously since 2048, this time, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh candidate Tara Prasad Joshi has won the election. Former Nepali Congress president Nainsingh Mahar was the candidate there from the Congress. Mahar has complained to those close to him that Deuba has not reached the district even once despite repeated requests. 

Some leaders from Deuba's side also admit that there is no alternative to Gagan to revive the Congress. Deuba's pro-party leader Shyam Ghimire has said that instead of talking about the resignation of the president on social media, they should now do the homework of the regular general convention and select the leadership from there. 'My friends thought that a change would come from the special general convention, but it did not. Gaganji's face was not as bright as Balen and Ravi's face was sold in the elections,' Ghimire said, 'But there is no other leader in the Congress like Gagan now. Now the Congress should be reorganized and unified under his leadership. For that, a regular general convention is the only option.’ 

Another leader, Ramhari Khatiwada, says that at such times, blaming and abusing each other will not solve the problem. ‘After the results of the proportional representation are out, there should be a deep review of the defeat, the office bearers should hold a meeting soon after consulting,’ he said, ‘Rather than talking about resignation, we should now move towards preparations for a regular general convention.’ 

The defeat of President Gagan has also created a big stir within the Congress. The issue of how Thapa reached Sarlahi-4 this time after leaving the Kathmandu-4 election field is also being discussed. The current defeat has put a ‘break’ in Thapa’s 18-year parliamentary journey. Not only the President of the Congress, but most of the office bearers in the Central Working Committee have been defeated. Vice Presidents Sharma and Pushpa Bhusal did not contest the election at all. General Secretaries Pradeep Poudel and Gururaj Ghimire were defeated. Other leaders, including Shekhar Koirala, NP Saud, Minendra Rijal, joint general secretaries Farmullah Mansur, Prakash Rasaili ‘Snehi’ and others, have also been defeated.