KATHMANDU: The 24th National Convention of the All Nepal National Free Students Union (ANNFSU), the student wing of the ruling CPN-UML, has been underway in Kathmandu since last Sunday.
The election for new leadership, originally scheduled for Wednesday, was postponed to Thursday due to technical issues.
The push for consensus fell apart after the party high command’s attempt to finalize leadership without a vote was met with resistance.
On Tuesday, High Command leader Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal proposed a unified panel with Dr. Sujan Kaderiya as Chairperson, Prakash Paudel and Anjana Shiwakoti as Vice-Chairpersons, and Deepak Dhami as General Secretary. The proposal was immediately rejected by the convention floor, triggering slogans and demands for an open election.
Nominations officially opened Tuesday evening at 6 PM. Though elections were initially planned for Wednesday afternoon, the high command continued efforts to forge consensus. However, as Prakash Paudel, one of the chairperson contenders, refused to withdraw his candidacy, the leadership was forced to proceed with elections on Thursday.
The leadership race has exposed growing fractures within the ruling party, with factions forming around party chair KP Sharma Oli and former President Bidya Devi Bhandari. A split is now apparent between their respective camps.
The official slate backed by the party leadership includes Sujan Kaderiya for Chairperson, Deepak Dhami for General Secretary, and Anjana Shiwakoti for Vice-Chairperson. However, rival teams have put forth alternative candidates—Naresh Rokaya’s group supports Bikash Shrestha, while the faction led by Govinda Giri and Narayan Gharti is backing Raj Kumar Dhakal.
A member of the election commission has expressed concern about potential internal sabotage within the “government-backed” slate, pointing to deepening divisions even among those aligned with the leadership.
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