Nepali Congress youth leaders slam party leadership

Kathmandu, January 1

Youth leaders of the Nepali Congress today alleged that the party leadership had become defensive by delaying the meetings of Central Working Committee and Maha Samiti.

Stating that the party should have convened an emergency CWC meet immediately after election results, they said the delay meant that the leadership was reluctant to listen to them, and was shying away from possible criticism.

Besides formation of the left alliance, the major reasons for the NC’s defeat in the polls were the failure to abide by the party statute in running the party; intra-party disputes; factionalism; failure to give shape to various party organs; and failure to effectively mobilise sister organisations, the leaders concluded.

“We are not talking about mere leadership change, we are talking about how we can make the NC a modern and robust political force. The party has several weaknesses that need to be addressed at the earliest. We cannot afford further delay,” said NC leader Pradip Paudel, adding that they came up with a public statement urging the leadership to immediately hold the CWC meeting followed by Maha Samiti after the leadership seemed reluctant to do so.

Seven NC central leaders — Chandra Bhandari, Dhan Raj Gurung, Bishwa Prakash Sharma, Guru Raj Ghimire, Gagan Kumar Thapa, Pradip Paudel and Badri Prasad Pandey — yesterday issued a public statement urging the leadership to immediately hold the CWC and Maha Samiti meeting to diagnose internal weaknesses that had led to the party’s defeat in the elections. These leaders also want the leadership to chart a course aimed at making the NC a modern and robust political force.

The leaders are also working on a ‘roadmap’ to be presented for discussion during the CWC and Maha Samiti meetings. They are currently in the process of holding consultations with the intellectual class and NC district presidents. “We will soon come up with the roadmap, including inputs from the consultations. The roadmap will include recommendations for the party’s revival,” said another NC youth leader Dhan Raj Gurung.

Leaders close to Prime Minister and NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba, however, said the latter had agreed to hold CWC and Maha Samiti meetings, and the party’s central office had already started preparations for the same.

According to NC leader Bal Krishna Khand, who is close to PM Deuba, the CWC and Maha Samiti will discuss giving full shape to party organs, restructuring the party’s organisation in line with the country’s federal set-up, and making around 600,000 active members ‘really active’, among other issues. “The need of the hour is discipline and unity. Passing the buck won’t solve the problem,” he said.

PM Deuba at a programme yesterday had acknowledged that the NC lost polls due to internal problems.