NC convention: A plethora of nominations

ANKIT ADHIKARI & KAMAL DEV BHATTARAI

KATHMANDU, SEP 18

Candidates vying for various posts of the Nepali Congress (NC) filed their nominations on Saturday at the party headquarters in Sanepa, Lalitpur.

Altogether 361 nominations for posts including that of the party president, general secretary and central committee members were registered for the election to be held on Tuesday. Party leaders say the number of candidates has sharply gone up in this 12th General Convention (GC) as compared to GCs in the past. The election is going to be highly inclusive in the NC’s history, given the demographics of the candidates.

While three candidates each are in the fray for the post of party president and general secretary, only two candidates will be vying for the treasurer’s chair. The “third front” led by Bhim Bahadur Tamang failed to nominate a candidate for the treasurer’s post.

Besides the three key posts, 353 candidates are contending for 61 seats in the party’s central committee. Names of 30 Dalits, 40 women, 52 indigenous nationalities, 92 from different zones, 29 Madhesis and 11 Muslims were registered for the central committee posts, while 99 candidates are fighting in the open competition.

Five posts have been separated by the party for the Dalits, Indigenous nationalities and Madhesis, while six seats have been reserved for women and one is secured for a candidate in the muslim quota.

NC acting president Sushil Koirala, senior NC leader Sher Bahadur Deuba and Bhim Bahadur Tamang are fighting for the president’s chair. Similarly, while Bimalendra Nidhi, Prakashman Singh and Narahari Acharya are contending for the post of general secretary, Chitralekha Yadav and Padam Narayan Chaudhari will be vying for the treasurer’s post.

Established leaders eying reservation Even established figures have filed their nominations from reserved seats.

A total of 25 Central Committee members will be selected through an open competition for which 99 members have filed their candidacy.

Interestingly, only two women—Minister Sujata Koirala and CC member Suprabha Ghimire—have registered their candidacy for the open competition instead of fighting from reserved seats for women.

The number of Dalit candidates has also gone up significantly.



Number of candidates

•    Party President: 3 (1 seat)

•    General Secretary: 3 (1 seat)

•    Treasurer: 2 (1 seat)

•    CC member (Open competition): 99 (25 seats)

•    CC member (14 zones): 92 (14 seats)

•    CC member (Dalit): 25 (3 seats)

•    CC member (Dalit - women) : 5 (2 seats)

•    CC member (Indigeneous nationalities): 37 (3 seats)

•    CC member (Indigeneous nationalities women): 15 (2 seats)

•    CC member (Women): 40 (6 seats)

•    CC member (Madhesi): 23 (3 seats)

•    CC member (Madhesi - women): 6 (2 seats)

•    CC member (Muslim): 11 (1 seat)


Published in The Kathmandu Post -- September 19