Kathmandu: The Election Commission of Nepal Friday announced that the Nepali Congress led by Gagan Thapa was the official one, dealing a blow to the Sher Bahadur Deuba faction, two days after the oldest and the largest party of the country split.
The Nepali Congress Wednesday formally split as negotiations between the two factions, one led by general secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwo Prakash Sharma, and the other by party president and former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, failed to reach an agreement over party reforms.
Both the Deuba faction and the Thapa faction staked their claim as the official Nepali Congress at the Election Commission (EC) by submitting their documents.
Nepali Congress spokesperson Devraj Chalise said their party has received official recognition.
Purna Bahadur Khadka, acting president of the Deuba faction, said, “We will fight the decision on all fronts.”
Bimalendra Nidhi, senior leader of the Nepali Congress close to Deuba, said they won’t accept the decision and will protest it.
The Thapa-led group held a Special General Convention from January 11 to 14 in Kathmandu and elected the 166-member executive body with Thapa as the president, which was challenged by the Deuba faction.
Both groups had submitted documents to the EC claiming their legitimacy.
The Deuba faction argued that the General Convention held by the rival faction was against the party’s statute.
However, the Thapa faction said that they have the support of around 60 per cent of General Convention delegates and claimed that the Special General Convention was in accordance with the party’s statute and the old executive body headed by Deuba was already dissolved.
As per the EC decision, the election symbol of ‘tree’, the flag consisting of four stars and the party office located at Sanepa in Lalitpur district belonged to the Gagan Thapa-led Nepali Congress.
There were hundreds of cadres and leaders from both sides outside the main gate of the EC when the verdict was announced.
Nidhi said, “We don’t approve of the decision of the Election Commission; we oppose it. This is a conspiracy to foil the March 5 election.”
The Deuba faction of Nepali Congress is planning to launch a protest outside the EC from Friday night itself.
There was tension in the main gate of the EC, where a large number of riot policemen were deployed to avoid possible clashes between the two groups.
The development comes days ahead of the nomination process for the March 5 general elections.
The general elections in Nepal were necessitated after the prime minister, K P Sharma Oli, resigned on September 9 following violent protests by the youth-led Gen Z group against his government over corru
