KATHMANDU: The Nepali Congress (NC) has formally split after its Central Committee decided to take disciplinary action against two General Secretaries and a Deputy General Secretary who supported the call for a Special General Convention.
The party has suspended General Secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma, along with Joint General Secretary Farmullah Mansoor, for five years. Leaders close to Thapa said the decision was taken despite repeated efforts to resolve the dispute through dialogue.
They alleged that although multiple attempts were made to preserve party unity, the Central Working Committee meeting moved ahead with disciplinary action based on various allegations, signaling an effort by the establishment faction to sideline dissenting voices.
According to party leaders, several rounds of talks were held between the Sher Bahadur Deuba-led establishment faction and supporters of the Special General Convention, but the discussions failed to produce an agreement. They said the decision by the Deuba faction, taken even after last-minute efforts to maintain unity, left the Special Convention supporters with no option but to move toward forming a separate working committee.
Leaders aligned with the Special General Convention claim that more than 63 percent of convention delegates nationwide had demanded a change in party leadership. They argue that this mandate was ignored by the establishment faction, prompting them to begin preparations for a new party structure.
The Special General Convention, underway at Bhrikutimandap in Kathmandu since January 11, is now working toward forming a new Central Committee through consensus.
The Special Convention faction has put forward several demands, including that party president Sher Bahadur Deuba relinquish executive authority, that the Special General Convention be recognized as the party’s legitimate decision-making body, and that it be granted the authority to select the party’s prime ministerial candidate.
The faction has also called for an end to electoral alliances, the formation of an inclusive parliamentary board for ticket distribution, the establishment of a five-member high-level mechanism focused on elections, and the removal of Deuba’s authority to sign candidate tickets. It has further demanded that reports presented at the Special General Convention be formally adopted as party documents.
Meanwhile, the Deuba-led faction confirmed the five-year suspension of Thapa, Sharma, and Mansoor. Earlier, the Special General Convention had announced the dissolution of the Central Committee led by Deuba, with the party’s Election Office stating that the initiation of elections for a new 134-member Central Committee automatically dissolved the previous committee.
On Wednesday evening, both factions approached the Election Commission separately. The Deuba-led faction submitted a letter informing the Commission of the disciplinary action taken against Thapa, Sharma, and Mansoor.
The Special Convention faction also submitted a separate letter, claiming that the Central Working Committee led by Deuba is no longer legitimate. Election Commission spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai said the Commission is reviewing the submissions from both sides.
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