Inability in conducting meets in Tarai stated as reason

Kathmandu, March 5:

The much-awaited 10th national convention of the Nepal Students’ Union (NSU), the student wing of the Nepali Congress (NC), has been postponed again to May 9-11 due to “inability in conducting district conventions in the Tarai region”.

The NSU central ad hoc committee meeting today postponed the meet, which was earlier scheduled for March 9-11 in Janakpur. Conventions have been held only in 48 districts as of now. NSU vice-president Pradip Poudel said that NSU convention could be used as a platform to promote constituent assembly elections. This is the third time the 10th NSU convention has been postponed in two years. Keshab Singh, the then NSU president, could not conduct the convention twice in two years after it could not be held in Pokhara in 2005.

A former NSU president, requesting anonymity, said that the existing central ad hoc committee has not been able to take the party into confidence. He also said that poor management was one of the reasons behind the postponment of the NSU meet. The conventions have always been organised in the interest of the party. The NSU convention has always taken a back seat due to various national agendas in the political front. The members are sceptical that the convention would take place at all in the near future, as CA polls are scheduled to be held by mid-June.

Former NSU president Guru Raj Ghimire said that the convention could be conducted in one-and-a-half-months time if the venue is changed.

A member of the NSU central committee said: “A majority of the present potential presidential candidates lack confidence and they have not been able to convince the leaders.”

Former NSU general-secretary Gagan Thapa said that the Tarai unrest “might be a genuine reason” but the convention “has been postponed due to sheer negligence of the ad hoc committee”. “Inability to conduct the NSU convention is a big challenge, as the ANNISU-R, too, conducted its convention,” said Thapa.

As per the NSU statute, the ad hoc committee has to conduct a convention within a year but it has already surpassed the time frame.

Meanwhile, the NSU close to NC-D is preparing to hold its 9th national convention scheduled for March 12-14 in Birgunj. But the venue is likely to be changed. However, the convention in only 41 districts has taken place so far. “All the preparations would be completed in a week,” said Kalyan Kumar Gurung, joint general secretary of NSU affiliated to NC-D.