NC national convention: Is Deuba’s victory secured?  By Our Reporter Amid speculations, the Nepali Congress has finally going to hold its 14th general convention in the next three weeks. The party managed to hold the federal constituency level convention in 158 of the 165 constituencies as of Wednesday. Now the party is to hold district, provincial and central level conventions. However, the party has failed to hold even the ward level convention in Saralhi and province and federal constituency level convention in Rasuwa and Sindhupalchowk. However, the NC said it resolved the dispute of Sarlahi on Tuesday. By the time this weekly reach the readers, a clear picture as to which panel managed to secure more voters will be clear. However, looking at the results of the 16 districts where the election results of the federal constituency level convention have already been announced, it seems there will be tough competition between the rival and establishment factions. Even in the districts where the results were made public on Tuesday, an almost equal number of central convention representatives were elected from both factions. And if the Ram Chandra Paudel faction succeeds to have a single candidate, it will be difficult for Sher Bahadur Deuba to be reelected. As of Wednesday, neither faction has succeeded to choose a single candidate. While Prakash Man Singh and Dr. Shekhar Koirala are in the race for the post of party president from the Paudel faction, Deuba, Bimalendra Nidhi and Gopal Man Shrestha have been contesting for the top party post from the establishment faction. Although leaders of the Paudel faction have been exercising to have a single candidate, both Singh and Dr. Koirala have been claiming for the post. If the Paudel faction fails to get a single candidate, it will be easier for Deuba to win the election as Nidhi and Shrestha will support him in the second round. A provision in the party statute has it that to get elected party president, a candidate should secure 51 per cent of the casted vote. And if five or six candidates contest the elections, no one will garner 50 per cent votes in the first round. But if the Paudel faction gets a single candidate and Nidhi continues his candidacy against Deuba, the Paudel faction candidate is sure to get elected by securing 51 per cent votes in the first round. UML national convention: Oli sure to be reelected party chair The 10th national congress of the CPN-UML which is beginning in Chitwan on Friday is likely to reelect party chairman KP Sharma Oli for the second term. Although efforts were made to elect Oli as chairman and other officials unanimously, leader Bhim Rawal challenged chair Oli by announcing his candidacy for the post of party chairman. The announcement of Rawal ultimately brought about a new twist to the UML convention which was supposed to be fully dominated by Oli and his men. Until Rawal threw his candidacy, it was expected that Oli would be reelected chairman unanimously and all other office bearers will be elected unanimously as desired by Oli. But now the situation has changed. Also, Rawal's candidacy has drawn the attention of the public to the UML convention which was earlier suspected to be a convention of a single leader -- Oli. Now the situation is such that all the office bearers of the UML will be elected. It was also hinted at by party chairman Oli in a press meet on Tuesday. Oli said only those who could win the election could become UML leaders. Until Monday, there were rumours that Oli was picking Ishwar Pokharel as the senior vice president. But on Tuesday, Subas Nembang also announced his candidacy for that post. While Nembang announced his candidacy for senior vice chair, many other leaders are likely to announce their candidacy for vice chairman, general secretary and secretary by Thursday. Mahesh Basnet has already announced his candidacy for party secretary. It seems the move made by Rawal has made it easier for Oli to manage leaders in the party. Now he does not have to pick any leaders, elections will decide. However, one thing is that only those who get Oli's support will win the election. No matter who wins the elections, the UML is organising its national congress lavishly. It is spending Rs. 5 million to prepare the podium for the convention on the bank of the Narayani. The party has booked almost all hotels of Chitwan for party leaders and guests. Kamal Thapa challenged by Lingden in RPP national convention Lawmaker Rajendra Lingden has announced his candidacy for the post of party chairman in the upcoming national convention of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party. Kamal Thapa, who has been leading the party since 2008, is facing tough competition this time as Lingden is backed by influential RPP leader and Nepalgunj Mayor Dhawal Shumsher Rana. Lingden is regarded to be popular not only within the RPP but also in the masses. The RPP has rescheduled its unity national general convention from December 2 to 4 in Kathmandu. Prior to this, the party had announced to convene its general convention from November 27 to 29. The party is holding its national convention after unification between RPP and RPP United in March 2020. Party’s papers on political, economic and social issues would be tabled in the general convention while the new working committee would be elected after amending the interim statute of the party. The party has concluded district conventions. Maoist Center holding national conclave It seems it is the season for political parties to hold their national convention. When the two big parties—CPN-UML and Nepali Congress are busy preparing for their national convention, two other parties—RPP and Maoist Centre are also holding their convention. The CPN (Maoist Centre) has scheduled its general convention in Kathmandu next month. The party has concluded its ward level convention across the country. However, unlike other parties, the party chose leaders in its ward level committees unanimously. The Maoist Centre has never held its general convention since its formation and Pushpa Kamal Dahal has been leading the party for over 30 years. A few months ago, the legitimacy of the party was challenged at the Election Commission claiming that the party had not held its convention. Now that the convention process has begun, it seems Dahal will be reelected party chair unanimously and he will pick other office-bearers.