KATHMANDU: The Shekhar Koirala faction of the Nepali Congress (NC) has reiterated its demand of 40 percent seats under the first-past-the-post category.
The faction, which has been demanding at least 40 percent, has demanded a “respectable” position in the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly.
The disgruntled faction has been alleging the party leadership being biased while distributing tickets in the November 20 elections to the House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly.
The Koirala-led faction has warned of dire consequences if the leadership did not meet its demands.
The disgruntled camp has already announced an agitation against the party leadership.
The section of the party that is frustrated and disgruntled with the high command’s strategy to “please the ruling partners” has warned of rebellion within the party.
Leaders of the dissident camp announced the agitation program accusing the latter of underestimating the party cadres’ contribution of late.
The Shekhar Koirala-Gagan Thapa faction of the party has accused Prime Minister and party President Sher Bahadur Deuba of marginalizing the genuine leaders and candidates and distributing tickets to the ones who joined the party lately.
Leaders of the dissatisfied camp also held a one-hour protest program at the party central office in Sanepa on September 28th.
The elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) and Province Assembly are scheduled for November 20 this year and the NC seems to be witnessing a steady decline in its electoral fortunes because of the leadership’s “lack of sincerity” when it comes to addressing the voices of the disappointed camp within the party.
The faction led by Dr. Koirala has blamed the NC leadership for not sticking to a unanimous decision taken by the party but giving priority to the coalition and pleasing the Maoist Center and other parties.
Dr. Koirala and his camp have already begun assessing how much this crisis could hurt the party’s chances of holding on to power after the general elections.
Party insiders say NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba has not maintained flexibility over the camp’s demands for seats since he is more focused on keeping the ruling coalition intact.
The coalition partners, meanwhile, are taking advantage of NC’s weakness demanding that the NC should get not more than 80 seats in the HoR election.
The disgruntled camp has objected to the fact that the party leadership has single-handedly selected candidates for Proportional Representation (PR) candidates.
Therefore, the camp, which has been insisting that the party should not compromise on less than 100 seats, is in a mood to revolt within the party if their demands were not met.
“We will be compelled to revolt within the party if tickets for the upcoming elections are not distributed to ensure that everyone in the party gets justice,” said NC leader, Guru Ghimire, recently.
Ghimire asked the office bearers of the camp not to remain silent when the leadership is doing injustice.
“I urge all leaders to raise their voices in favor of justice,” he added.
Earlier, Bhupendra Jung Shahi, too, warned he would contest the election to the HoR from Kalikot if the leadership did not give him a ticket.
“Even if I don’t get a ticket in the election, I will contest the election from Kalikot,” he said, adding, “We cannot remain mere spectators. The party leadership cannot treat us as servants.”
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