KATHMANDU: Dispute has led to the postponement of the Province 2 convention in the Nepali Congress and the overall central general convention has been affected. Central convention delegates are yet to be elected in some areas of Province 2 and the central convention is three days away.

The three factions of the party have agreed to hold the convention in Province 2 after the central general convention. However, the party has yet to decide if districts, where regional conventions have not been held yet, are to be included in the central convention in Kathmandu on December 10-12.

Regional convention elects delegates to participate in the central general convention and it has not occurred in some places. It is also not known who will participate in the central convention from areas that have not held the regional convention yet. General Convention delegates are yet to be elected in some places.

So far, the convention in Sarlahi 4 and Mahottari Constituency No. 3 has not been held.

Advocate Sitaram KC, a member of the Central Election Committee of the Nepali Congress, said, “The province  convention had to be postponed as the convention was not possible in the eight State Assembly constituencies of Sarlahi.” He informed that the convention was, meanwhile, held in Mahottari.

Leaders of Province 2 proposed to postpone the state convention and hold it after the central convention. Various factions of party such as party Vice President Bimalendra Nidhi, President Sher Bahadur Deuba, senior leader Ram Chandra Poudel, General Secretary Koirala, among others, agreed to the proposal.

Central Convention is still hazy in the party with three days to December 10 even if the party has set aside Province 2 for now. Another puzzle is whether the central convention will take place as delegates have not been elected due to several disputes.

Member Secretary of the Central Election Committee Jagannath Shrestha said it was agreed to hold the convention to the extent possible. “Leaders agreed to elect delegates in some constituencies in course of time,” said Member Secretary Shrestha.

In the last general convention as well, Dhanusha-5 was deprived from the general convention due to a dispute within the Nepali Congress. The dispute in Dhanusha was resolved after local leader Dr. Chandra Mohan Yadav resorted to hunger strike to address the dispute.

Even if the convention has been held in many districts of Province No. 2, convention in Sarlahi district has not been possible due to the active membership dispute between the establishment and non-establishment faction of the party. As the convention is not possible in the State Assembly constituencies in Province 2, the whole province convention has been affected overall.

However, Central leaders are inclined to take advantage of the active membership dispute instead of resolving it.