The meeting of the Central Committee of the Nepali Congress(NC) slated to be held from today in the capital city has attracted the attention of the Nepali people in general and that of the democrats in particular.

The constitution of the NC has provided for a meeting of the Central Committee twice a year.

The delay of more than a year now indicates that not all is well in the NC. If the meeting cannot take place in time, one can well imagine that practically nothing must have been in time in the party.

One does not need to labour hard to come to this conclusion. The treasurer's post is lying vacant, and departments have not been created. The election of the fraternal organizations has not been held. A review of the last federal and provincial election has not been made. It has not decided over the fate of Bal Krishna Khand, the former home minister, after his implication in the Bhutanese Refugee Scam when the Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) has already suspended Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, its secretary, a long time back, when both were arrested at almost the same time.

The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) also immediately suspended Dhaka Kumar Shrestha after his implication in corrupt practices, which helped it to win the by-election in Tanahu and Chitwan even though it did not help in Bara.

Above all, the policy convention has not yet been held despite the assurance to do so soon during the last convention of the party.

The biggest blow to the NC is the failure of its finance minister to bring a budget which is capable of taking the nation out of the present economic crisis. It did not receive support from the parties within the coalition till the last moment and had to be passed through a vote when budgets so far were recommended through the applause of the parliamentarians.

The image of the party has slumped to an all-time low. The defeat of its nominees in the last by-election both in Tanahu and Chitwan speaks volume about this reality. The defeat in Tanahu was demoralizing because the NC candidate, considered to be dedicated and devoted to the party as well as the people in the constituency, was defeated by Swarnim Wagley. He hadabandoned the NC party membership, citing nepotism and henpecked tendency rife within the party, and joined the newly emerging RSP. The canvassing by three former and one sitting prime minister backed by several Central Committee members proved a damp squib when its nominees lost by unexpectedly wide margins.The situation has aggravated to such an extent that the NC has been looked upon as the promoter of corruption in the country.

This opinion was expressed by none other than Arjun Narsingh KC, a former minister and a notable stalwart of the NC. Its former minister is languishing behind bars, and the party presi-dent has been alleged for his complicity in the widebody scam. The delayed action on Khand, coupled by the behind the screen attempt to remove this subject from the agenda of the meeting, has added substance to this outlook.

Why has the party come to this depressing pass? It is because of the leadership failure of none other thanthe party president Deuba.

It is widely recognized that the top leadership gets the bouquets or brick bats depending upon the success or failure within the party.

The president enjoys more than 80 per cent of the party support, but most of the works in the party remain unaddressed. Seldom does one come across a leaderwho cannot drive the party to the expectation of its members despite enjoying more than two-thirds majority.

It shows the weakness inherent in the leadership of the president.

It is so sad to dump criticism on a person who at one time was seen as the savior of the party as well as the country. But there is no alternative as to shift the blame to any other person would be simply ridiculous.

The NC leadership may be boasting for bringing the Maoist Centre into the coalition fold, which had otherwise entered the UML fold to form a UML-backed government.

It may even crow for being successful in installing Ram Chandra Poudel as the President, but it would be the case anyway had it agreed on the leadership of Prachanda earlier on. It is no wonder then that the two young and dynamic general secretaries of the party, and particularly Gagan Thapa, have not minced any words by saying that he is aiming to change the current leadership even if it amounts to his political sacrifice.

The NC supporters are expecting some breakthrough decisions from the meeting of the NC central committee. At least it should give the impression that it is not a promoter of corruption underway in the country in any way. The failure to do so will lead to the departure of NC supporters to other parties, primarily the RSP.

For this, it should pass the resolution on suspending Khand and give assurances to open the corruption files that have been gathering dust in the office cupboards as a cover up of the towering politicians, including the NC president. It may be reduced to a lesser party like the Indian Congress in India if it happens otherwise in the next election.

The NC could even sink further following the fate of Nepal Praja Parishad, which has to be searched by a burning lamp in broad daylight. There are others such as the Kuomintang Party of China, which has also disappeared from the political scene. The Federalist Party of the United States is also nowhere to be seen. The NC seems to be destined to this bitter reality in the absence of dramatic reforms as expected.

Pokharel is former vice chancellor of the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology

A version of this article appears in the print on July 18, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.