Kathmandu, November 14

Nepali Congress leaders have begun preparations for the party’s 13th national general convention scheduled to be held in Kathmandu from March 3-6.

However, though the party has already formed 13 preparation committees on October 30, the panels’ activities is likely to begin only after the Chhath festival. Leaders aspiring to secure the top party positions are making internal preparations and will intensify their activities after the Central Working Committee endorses the report on party’s active membership.

“The committee formed to settle disputes related to active membership of the party has already submitted its report. Once the report is endorsed, the name list of the active members will be forwarded to the local level. Then, the party’s local chapters will hold their conventions respectively,” said CWC member Gyanendra Bahadur Karki. The local conventions will elect the party’s NGC representatives.

The NC has nearly doubled its active members to 470,000 and NGC representatives will be elected from among these members. There will be around 3,300 NGC representatives, who will elect the party’s central leadership, said Ram Krishna Yadav, a member of the Active Member Probe Committee.

All local and district level conventions will be concluded by February 12. Incumbent party President Sushil Koirala, senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba and party vice-president Ram Chandra Paudel are the likely contenders for the party’s top post, according to party sources. They, however, said that that it was still unclear whether both Koirala and Paudel would contend for the top post or support each other.

All the three leaders are keen to secure the top post as the new generation would be prepared to replace them in the next five years, said party sources.