The Shah faction could not provide names as it was not decided how many of the 51 central members to be nominated by President Lamichhane would be nominated by Prime Minister Shah's faction. The Shah faction insists that at least 25 of its recommendations should be nominated.
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Ravi Lamichhane, who was elected unopposed as the president of the ruling Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) party at its first general convention, took oath in Bharatpur on June 12. He returned to Kathmandu and assumed office. He administered the oath to the central members and office bearers elected at the convention at the central office, 'Ghantighar', on June 17. However, the central committee and office bearers are still incomplete due to the failure to agree on the 'partition' in the nomination. However, the plan was to finalize the nominees at the convention venue and take a group photo.
The RSSP president and 99 central members were elected at the convention. The RSSP Central Election Commission announced their election on June 12 in Chitwan. According to the RSSP statute, 'the party's supreme executive body will consist of 158 members (including 150 central members, 7 provincial presidents ex-officio central members and 1 party president)'. The seats of 51 central members nominated by the party president are still vacant.
On the other hand, only 7 office bearers, including the chairman, have been selected out of 18. There are 12 vacant positions, including senior leaders nominated by the chairman. According to leaders of the Balendra Shah faction, the delay in giving names is due to the uncertainty over how many people will be recommended by their side among the 51 central members nominated by the chairman. Senior leader Shah's faction has demanded that half of the 51 central members (at least 25) be nominated by the person they recommended, says a leader who worked closely with Shah in the past.
'There have been a few more proposals to be nominated by the senior leaders, since there is a demand of about half, the chairman says how many people to be nominated, recommendations are made accordingly, so far the senior leaders have not recommended any names, the number may not be finalized,' he says.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) General Secretary Bipin Acharya said that nominations will be made for some central committee posts in the upcoming meeting of the central committee. He said that the statute gives President Lamichhane the right to nominate and discussions and consultations are underway regarding its use. ‘The President is discussing the issue of the posts to be nominated, the issue of nomination does not go far,’ Acharya said, ‘He consults with various leaders and appropriate people at the appropriate time about the decision he takes.’ The RSVP statute stipulates that the name of the person to be nominated by the President must be approved by the Central Committee.
Joint General Secretary Asim Shah said that President Lamichhane will decide on the posts to be nominated after consulting Prime Minister Shah. ‘The President and senior leaders will sit down and decide on it. The election has ensured 51 percent women representation in the Central Committee. Whether that number will be maintained or not, inclusiveness should also be taken into account. It has taken time to nominate after discussing between the two leaders,’ said Shah, who is also the Prime Minister’s chief political advisor.
After President Lamichhane returned from Chitwan, Shah claims that the two leaders had a phone conversation and reached a principled agreement on the number of nominees. ‘There has been a principled agreement on nominating central members, there is an understanding on what kind of person to bring,’ he said, ‘Just as two people sat down to decide when distributing tickets in the House of Representatives elections, similarly, two leaders will sit down to decide on the nomination of central members and office bearers.’
President Lamichhane, Swarnim Wagle and Sobita Gautam as vice-presidents, Bipin Acharya as general secretary, Asim Shah, Nisha Dangi and Hari Dhakal as joint general secretaries have been elected from the general convention. Along with the senior leader, there are 12 vacant posts to be nominated by the president, including 1 vice-president, 1 general secretary, 2 joint general secretaries, 1 spokesperson, 3 joint spokespersons, 1 treasurer and 2 joint treasurers. The senior leader will be Prime Minister Balendra Shah. President Lamichhane has not yet decided who to nominate for other office bearers.
The RSVP leadership has an understanding that the Shah side will be the deputy president from the nomination. However, Shah has not yet decided who to send to that post. Earlier, preparations were underway to send Sunil Lamsal to this post. Recently, there has been talk of sending Sudhan Gurung. Lamsal is the Minister of Physical Infrastructure, while Gurung is the Home Minister. Top leaders of the RSVP have said that there is a discussion about whether to make Lamsal the deputy president because he is senior in the party or Gurung based on his role as a leader of the Gen-G movement, representation of indigenous peoples, and his role in reconciling Ravi-Walendra. The discussion about who to send to the post of general secretary has also not been finalized. Earlier, Bhupdev Shah had become the general secretary of the RSVP on behalf of Shah. Recently, it is said that there is a discussion about whether to give Bhupdev another responsibility and send another person to the post of general secretary.
