Kathmandu, May 3:

After the defeat in Constituent Assembly polls and factional rift over the proportional representation list within the Nepali Congress, party leaders are busy devising strategies that could put an end to contradictions plaguing the party and regain popular support.

The NC will start a discussion on the agenda of party restructuring at the next Central Working Committee meeting slated for May 10.

“Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala admitted that some deserving candidates were excluded from the party’s PR list and promised to overhaul the party. It’s an extremely difficult situation for the party. I have arrived at the conclusion that we should bury the hatchet and come up with new strategies that can win the people’s trust again,” Nepali Congress leader Bal Bahadur KC, who expressed dissent over the way the PR list was prepared, told this daily today.

“The party cannot be run like this. I will try my best to restructure and streamline the party,” KC quoted PM Koirala as saying. KC said the NC could withstand challenges of the day if it made a switch to a policy-oriented outfit from leader-oriented party.

“From the centre to the village, the party should be overhauled in line with federalism. Theory of inclusion should also apply in the party; otherwise, the party will be unable to overcome the challenges,” KC said adding that the party needed to truly embrace the principle of socialism.

“In the past, we chanted the slogan of socialism but adopted capitalism. That is why, we could not address the problem of the poor. We can save the party only if we rectify our mistakes,” he said. Another NC leader Pradeep Giri said lack of inner-party democracy was the root cause of all evils.

“There are several examples where the leaders have acted above the party statute. Party statute mandates to call Mahasamiti meeting every year but we have not been able to call that meet even once in course of 10 years,” Giri said.

“Even today, the NC is the only party that can maintain national integrity, promote democracy and socialism, but only the new leadership with new thoughts can accomplish this task,” he said, adding that the people have tested and discarded the old leadership of the party.

Asked if the NC needed to change its socio-economic agenda to be competitive with other parties, he said, “The crux of this agenda is to provide employment to six to seven lakh Nepalis that enter domestic job market every year. If we ensure inner-party democracy, our interaction with the people will increase, and we will easily be able to solve this problem.”