Kathmandu, Nov 22: The Nepali Congress central committee meeting, which had been postponed several times, is finally set for today. According to the party’s chief secretary, Krishna Prasad Paudel, the meeting will take place at 1 pm at the party headquarters in the BP Memorial Building.

The meeting that began on October 14 continued until last Thursday, when office bearers and members wrapped up their remarks. After that, the session was repeatedly deferred as leaders tried to settle the dispute over the timing of the party’s general convention. They have been holding informal talks to find common ground on whether to hold the 15th general convention before or after the next House of Representatives election.

Acting party president Purna Bahadur Khadka, general secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwo Prakash Sharma, and others are working on a compromise formula. Party publicity chief Min Bishwakarma said top leaders are still engaged in informal discussions to find a middle path. He added that there is strong pressure on them to come up with a compromise proposal by this afternoon.

Two separate proposals on the general convention have already been registered. On November 5, General Secretary Gagan Thapa proposed holding it from December 31 to January 3.

The same day, Joint General Secretary Mahendra Yadav countered with a proposal to hold it from May 9 to 12. Thapa’s proposal is backed by the dissident faction, while Yadav’s proposal has the support of the establishment side, which has led to a growing rift.

Some leaders, including Dr Shekhar Koirala and Joint General Secretary Mahalaxmi Upadhyaya, are trying to merge the two proposals and present a middle option to resolve the dispute.

People's News Monitoring Service