KATHMANDU: Nepali Congress General Secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma have gone ahead with a special convention, directly challenging the party establishment.
According to Subas Pokharel, Coordinator of the Publicity Committee under the Convention Management Subcommittee, 2,662 representatives have signed in so far. The signature registration will reopen on Monday from 8 am.
He said the number of participating convention representatives has reached 2,662, which is 56.12 percent of the total. When the demand for a special convention was submitted in Ashoj, it had the backing of 54 percent of representatives. In the 2021 Nepali Congress general convention, there were 4,743 representatives in total.
Based on these figures, 2,080 representatives have not taken part in the special convention called by Thapa and Sharma. Under the Nepali Congress statute, a minimum of 51 percent participation is required for a convention to be considered valid.
Organisers say the convention will now move forward in line with the views and decisions of the participating representatives. The turnout is being seen as a major political setback for party President Sher Bahadur Deuba and the establishment faction.
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