KATHMANDU: The Sher Bahadur Deuba-led establishment faction of the Nepali Congress has removed the names and photographs of Gagan Thapa, Bishwa Prakash Sharma and Farumullah Mansoor from the party’s official website, further deepening the ongoing legitimacy battle within the party.
Thapa and Sharma were serving as General Secretaries, while Mansur was a Joint General Secretary before the party’s Special General Convention. Their profiles are no longer visible on the Nepali Congress website, which remains under the control of the Deuba faction.
However, the Special General Convention of the Nepali Congress, held from January11 to 14, elected a new Central Working Committee under the leadership of Gagan Thapa. The convention, attended by a majority of party delegates, claimed to have completed both leadership selection and policy decisions.
Despite this, the Deuba-led group, which did not participate in the Special General Convention, continues to claim itself as the official Nepali Congress.
The removal of key leaders from the party’s digital platforms is being seen as part of a wider struggle between the two rival factions over institutional control and legal recognition of the party.
With both sides claiming legitimacy, the dispute over the Nepali Congress’s official status is now set to be resolved by the Election Commission and, potentially, the courts.
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