KATHMANDU: Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba now plans to contest again from Dadeldhura in the upcoming March 5 election, telling party leaders that this will be his final attempt at parliamentary politics.
The five-time Prime Minister has conveyed this message to senior Nepali Congress leaders, district representatives and sister-wing members in a series of meetings held at his temporary residence in Maharajgunj.
Deuba, whose Budhanilkantha residence was destroyed during the Gen-Z movement, has grown visibly more active in recent weeks. According to Dadeldhura Congress President Bhim Bahadur Saud, the district committee is preparing to unanimously recommend Deuba’s name, noting that the former Prime Minister has expressed his desire to fight one last election from his home district. Deuba has won every parliamentary election from Dadeldhura since 1991, often overcoming strong challenges from UML, Maoist and independent contenders.
His revived political engagement follows a rare meeting on December 5 with CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli, the first formal interaction between the two leaders since the political shockwaves triggered by the Gen-Z uprising in early September. Their dialogue, according to party insiders, has reoriented both leaders toward the upcoming polls and possible post-election power equations.
Oli, who fled Baluwatar in an Army helicopter during the height of the protests and resurfaced 11 days later, is preparing for UML’s 11th General Convention beginning December 13. He is seeking a third term as party chair after the UML removed term-limit and age-limit provisions that he himself had once championed. This time, however, senior Vice-Chair Ishwar Pokhrel has emerged as a formidable challenger, making the leadership contest more competitive.
The two leaders’ meeting comes at a time when both Nepali Congress and UML have reached the Supreme Court to challenge the House dissolution, calling it unconstitutional. While Oli has publicly stated he will not seek to return as Prime Minister even if the House is reinstated, he has signaled support for positioning Deuba as a potential consensus candidate, a message he is understood to have conveyed to Deuba both during and after the latter’s medical stay in Singapore.
Congress insiders say this prospect has “re-energized” Deuba at a time when the party is resolving internal disputes over the timing of its special and general conventions. Acting President Purna Bahadur Khadka had been handling the matter for weeks, but Deuba stepped in recently to settle disagreements, clearing the path for the General Convention scheduled for January 10-12.
As the election approaches, Congress has begun finalizing candidate recommendations. Morang Constituency-3 has already unanimously proposed Sunil Sharma. Each constituency must recommend three names, including at least one woman, by December 11, before the central committee compiles the final slate.
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