KATHMANDU: Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa has said that the party is now paying the price for failing to make decisive interventions despite raising questions in time.
Speaking at Thursday’s session of the ongoing Central Working Committee meeting, Thapa said both the decision to form an electoral alliance with the CPN (Maoist Centre) and to share power with the CPN-UML were serious mistakes.
He admitted that while he had repeatedly called for leadership change since the 13th General Convention, he had failed to bring about decisive reforms. “I contested for the general secretary post in the 13th convention and won in the 14th. Back then, I supported Shekhar Koirala for the party presidency. I have been saying since 2068 BS that our top leaders should step aside,” he said. “In 2078, I tried to help Shekhar Koirala become president but couldn’t.”
Thapa said he realized the consequences of his inaction when his house was set on fire on Bhadra 24. “People said, ‘You’ve been saying others should step down, but you stuck with them.’ I saw that anger firsthand,” he remarked, adding that although he raised questions, he failed to dismantle the distortions within the party.
He recalled objecting to the ticket distribution for the 2079 local elections, saying some nominations would cost the party dearly. “But President Deuba insisted on his choice, saying he had already promised,” Thapa said. “I should have stood firm then, but I didn’t. That was my mistake.”
Thapa described the electoral alliance with the Maoist Centre during the 2079 general elections as another major blunder. “I had strong ideological reasons to oppose the alliance, but I gave in,” he said. “If I had stood by my position, I might have either influenced the decision or not contested at all. That was another mistake.”
He also admitted that voting for Maoist chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ as prime minister was wrong. “Even then, I had a different opinion, but I went along in the name of party unity,” he said.
Regarding the later coalition with UML, Thapa said he had opposed it from the beginning. “I had clearly said Congress and UML should not form a government together, but I learned about the deal through the newspapers,” he said.
He recounted confronting party president Sher Bahadur Deuba the next day. “I went to his house and asked, ‘Is Nepali Congress your private company?’” Thapa recalled. “But he just said, ‘What’s done is done, my friend. If you had said it yesterday, it would’ve leaked.’”
Thapa concluded that his failure to hold firm against such decisions was a major reason for the party’s current troubles.
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