KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 5
The 15th General Convention of the Nepali Congress, led by Gagan Thapa, began here today amid an ongoing row with the faction led by former party president Sher Bahadur Deuba.
The Deuba-led faction has separately announced its own general convention in December and submitted the relevant documents to the Election Commission. Despite the feud between the two factions, the inauguration of the 15th General Convention was attended by leaders of other political parties, including Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane, Nepali Communist Party (NCP) Coordinator Pushpa Kamal Dahal, CPN-UML General Secretary Shankar Pokharel, Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) Chair Rajendra Lingden, as well as former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai.
Speaking at the inaugural session of the convention, the leaders expressed enthusiasm over Thapa’s leadership, describing it as a mandate for change.
‘LET GO’ OF DEUBA
Lamichhane advised Thapa against trying to win over Deuba for the sake of unity. “I would like to suggest that instead of trying to appease him, it would be better to let go,” he said.
He said he too might have become a Congress member had the party acted differently, listing several reasons for his stance not to become one.
He said the party had failed to value those whose true capital was loyalty rather than material wealth. “If the Congress had – in a timely manner – valued those whose true capital was their loyalty to the party, rather than prioritising those with material wealth, I might have been a Congress member,” Lamichhane said.
He also said the party had talked of proportional representation for people from remote and marginalised areas, yet gave election tickets to those already at the forefront, who had received the most opportunities.
On youth leadership, he said, “Today, you feel proud to have a 50-year-old party president. Had the party offered the inspiration to become president at the age of 40 – and had that inspiration been embraced – I too might have been a Congress member.”
Lamichhane further said he might have stayed with the party had it not directed members to abandon its own ‘Tree’ symbol and vote for another party’s symbol.
MADHES, RIGHTS, IDENTITY
Pointing to the presence of the representatives from the Tarai-Madhes region at the venue, Lamichhane said that despite countless speeches, slogans and manifestos on the rights and identity of Madhes, practical implementation remains unresolved.
“There is much talk about rights – we heard it here, too. There has been much discussion about the right to identity. There is no counting how often these have appeared in speeches, slogans, documents and manifestos,” he said.
Noting that his party had declared a son of Madhes as its prime ministerial candidate, Lamichhane said he was qualified to speak on the gap between what is written on paper and what is practised in reality. Rights and identity, he said, must be implemented in practice rather than sorted into clusters and left on paper.
TIME FOR A BREAK FROM THE STATUS QUO
NCP Coordinator Dahal said it was now the turn of Thapa and Lamichhane to bring about a decisive break from the status quo. He acknowledged that after repeatedly initiating such breaks following the People’s War and the peace process, he might have reached a point where he could no longer do so himself. “Congratulations, Gagan Thapa-ji.
You have made history. By breaking the pattern of continuity, you have steered the Congress towards a new chapter in history,” Dahal said. “I witnessed Thapa’s proactive approach firsthand when he served as health minister during NCP government’s tenure.”
He added, “Dare to lead this country; we are ready to fully support you. Move forward.” Dahal said the achievement would not have been possible without the support of leaders such as Bishwa Prakash Sharma and Pradip Paudel.
PLAN FOR DEVELOPMENT, TRUST NEW GENERATION
Bhattarai said political parties should formulate distinct national development plans and compete to implement them. Citing Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore and China, which moved from the Global South to the Global North, he stressed the need for a strategy to achieve a similar transformation within 20 years.
“There is still time; everyone needs to reflect on this. How did other countries develop? If Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore and China could move from the Global South to the Global North within our own lifetime, how can we also reach that stage in the next 20 years?”
He added that the new generation must be trusted to ensure political stability. “Let us learn from the past. We must now place our trust on the new generation,” Bhattarai said.
MOVING FORWARD IN THE SAME SPIRIT
Nepali Congress Vice-President Bishwa Prakash Sharma said the party would continue moving forward with Thapa as president after the convention.
“We have transitioned the Congress leadership from an 80-year-old president to a 50-year-old president. We have made 50-year-old Thapa the president. We will continue to move forward in the same spirit,” he said.
‘OPEN PLATFORM’ NEEDED
Thapa said an ‘open platform’ is needed in every sector to foster democratic practices. Noting that such platforms have historically helped the Congress fulfil major resolutions, he said the party must realise new resolutions through this convention.
“This is a venue for airing differences on a common platform. We need an open platform for dialogue between the nation and its citizens,” he said.
He also said social media should be turned into an open platform for factual and reasoned debate rather than verbal abuse. On internal democracy, he said, “We need an open platform that welcomes questions directed at leadership, instead of one where questioning leads to disciplinary actions.”
According to the central election committee, the election for the new leadership, which was originally scheduled for today and tomorrow, is likely to be postponed to October 7 and 8 due to nominations and negotiation processes.
The closed session and other programmes of the convention are scheduled for tomorrow and Tuesday.
PM TAKES A JIBE AT THAPA’S REMARKS
Prime Minister Balendra (Balen) Shah, in his characteristically maverick style, responded on social media to Thapa’s remarks. In a Facebook, Instagram post this evening, he wrote: “It is a good thing Khulamanch was improved; a new party was able to hold an event there and criticise [me].”
The Congress held the inaugural session of its convention at Khulamanch today. The site had been closed for a long time, and political rallies and other gatherings were banned there. It was closed during Shah’s tenure as mayor of Kathmandu, with the stated purpose of upgrading it.