KATHMANDU, APRIL 27

Nepali Congress leader Shekhar Koirala has urged all dissidents who have filed their candidacy for civic posts to return to the NC and work for the party.

Issuing a statement today, Koirala, who had lost party presidency to Sher Bahadur Deuba in the last general convention, found fault with tickets distribution across the country.

He alleged there were irregularities in distribution of tickets as a result of which honest and sincere party cadres were disappointed.

Many NC aspirants who were denied tickets for the May 13 local polls have filed nomination papers as independent candidates.

Koirala said many NC leaders who were committed to the party's ideology, norms, values, and ideals had joined other parties.

Koirala pledged to do his bit to ensure that in future tickets would be distributed on the basis of merit.

He said his faction had repeatedly called for ticket distribution on the basis of certain criteria, but their suggestions were ignored. 'Those authorised to distribute tickets did not do so judiciously,'Koirala said.

He alleged that conscious attempts were being made to end political careers of leaders who disagreed with the leadership. He accused the party leadership of misusing state machinery to implicate party leaders in false cases to sabotage their political career.

Stating that he sympathised with party cadres who felt injustice, he said he would continue to speak in favour of fair play and justice within the party.

'We are in a minority within the party, but we will continue to stand in favour of truth and justice,'Koirala added.

A version of this article appears in the print on April 28, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.