Kathmandu, March 27

Nepali Congress leaders today raised the issue of financial dealings while issuing election tickets during the ongoing Central Working Committee meeting.

Claiming that the leadership ‘sold election tickets’ to candidates, the leaders demanded that a probe committee be formed to investigate the matter.

“There are reports of irregularities while awarding election tickets to candidates. A probe committee should be formed to investigate whether there were irregularities,” said NC leader Dhan Raj Gurung.

Gurung stressed that leaders should embrace honesty and reform the party.

Former finance minister Ram Sharan Mahat also expressed a similar view. Claiming there were financial irregularities while awarding election tickets, Mahat said the issue should be investigated, according to an NC leader present in the meeting.

Another NC leader raising the same issue was Bal Bahadur KC. He also demanded investigation into the matter.

Gurung also said that NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba, senior leader Ramchandra Paudel and office bearers should take the responsibility of election defeat at the hands of the left alliance of the CPN-UML and the CPN-Maoist Centre. He suggested that Deuba take right decisions at the right time and urged Paudel to not to speak in line with his personal interest, but in the party’s interest.

Gurung also criticised the leadership for not speaking against the election observation report of the European Union that ‘sought to provoke ethnic, regional and religious conflict’.

Speakers in today’s meeting included Gurung, Mahat, Minendra Rijal, Farmullah Mansoor, Arjun Prasad Joshi, Pushpa Bhusal, Badri Pandey, Parvata DC, Shyam Kumar Ghimire, Athar Kamal Musalman, and Hasan Ansari.

Most of the speakers stressed that the party should be strengthened and unity should be maintained. They also said the party’s statute should be amended.