Nepali Congress 15th General Convention: Gagan Thapa elected president

Gagan Kumar Thapa was elected president of Nepal’s Nepali Congress after securing 6,584 votes at the party’s 15th General Convention, according to the official results announced by the party’s Central Election Committee. Thapa defeated Shyam Krishna Khadgi, who received 375 votes. The election recorded 7,013 total votes cast, of which 6,959 were valid and 54 were invalid, according to the results.

Polls opened on Friday morning to elect a new Central Working Committee, a day later than planned, with the senior-most general convention representative, Shobhakanta Baral, casting the first ballot. A total of 7,317 eligible representatives were eligible to vote. Delegates lined up early, with some keen to vote and return home in time to celebrate Dashain with their families. The party will elect a President, Vice Presidents, General Secretaries, Joint General Secretaries and Central Committee members. The Nepali Congress has amended its statute to expand the Central Working Committee to 297 members.

Post-Election Priorities

Speaking to ANI before the results, Thapa said the party’s focus after the election would be to regain traditional voters lost in the last election. “This is one of the processes that we are required to do at the convention in five years, but this is not only a regular event for us. We have just come through a bad result from the recent election, so there is a lot to do to organise the party within itself. The main focus for us after this (general convention) election is to regain the voters, our traditional voters whom we lost in the last election,” he said.

“The estimate is around 10 Lakhs (One million) who have been voting for the Nepali Congress for a long time, but we have lost them in the last election. That will be the first thing. We know their grievances, and the claim would be that we have come in a new avatar addressing all the grievances. That is how we will start,” he added.

Background and Internal Disputes

The election comes a year ahead of local polls, as the tenure of elected local representatives ends in 2027. The Nepali Congress, Nepal’s oldest party and largest opposition with 38 seats in the House of Representatives, suffered a setback in the March election. Before the Gen-Z revolution, it held the highest number of seats, 89, in the dissolved House.

The convention is the party’s first regular national convention since December 2021, and comes nearly eight months after the special convention in January, when Thapa became party president, replacing Sher Bahadur Deuba’s leadership. That special convention, held in Kathmandu from January 11 to 14, was convened by over 54 per cent of party delegates, while only about 30 members of Deuba’s central committee took part.

Legal Challenges and Factionalism

The Election Commission recognised Thapa’s committee on January 16, and the Supreme Court upheld the recognition on April 17. In August, a full bench led by Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Sharma allowed a review petition filed by Deuba and Purna Bahadur Khadka. The review is pending, with no hearing date listed. Petitions seeking to stop the Thapa-led convention were rejected.

Under the party statute, a committee elected at a special convention is interim and must hold a regular convention within a year to keep its mandate, putting the outer deadline in mid-December. Clause 17 allows a special convention if at least 40 per cent of elected representatives sign a request. The Deuba camp has boycotted the process and disputes the special convention itself. It says leadership remains open until a final court decision, argues that proceeding risks contempt, and has announced a rival 15th General Convention in Kathmandu from December 7 to 9. (ANI)

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