Kathmandu, April 29:

The meeting of the Nepali Congress parliamentary board today began finalising names of candidates from its closed-list to be elected to the CA under the proportional representation system.

The NC has bagged 73 seats under the PR system. As per the Election Commission’s directive, the party will have to pick up 73 names from its closed-list of 335 candidates by Friday.

The 11-member parliamentary panel led by party president and Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala today tried to sort out the candidates from the 335 names, party sources said.

“We have unanimously endorsed the name of the party president for the constituent assembly,” NC vice-president Gopal Man Shrestha said, adding that the board was expected to finalise the names of other candidates by tomorrow.

The party candidates tentatively approved by the parliamentary board include central leaders like Bal Dev Sharma Majgainya, Laxman Prasad Ghimire, Pradip Giri, Dr Minendra Rijal, Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat and Purna Bahadur Khadka.

“But there is a strong voice within the party fold to induct experts like advocates and give chance to more youths in the constituent assembly, besides ensuring the inclusion of the marginalised groups,” a member of the NC parliamentary board told this daily, adding, “So even some central-level leaders could be dropped out.”

The party has decided to adjourn its crucial central working committee meeting till Thursday to give more time to the parliamentary board to finalise the names.

The parliamentary panel is due to submit the list of candidates to the CWC meet when it resumes on Thursday.