KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 31
Nepali Congress general secretaries Gagan Kumar Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma issued a joint statement today vowing to change the party from a state of frustration and confusion to a state of opportunities to rejuvenate the party.
In their National Reconciliation Day statement, the duo, who advocate handover of party leadership to new and young faces, said there should be seriousness in this adverse situation and commitment to novelty.
Thapa had recently lost election for NC Parliamentary Party leader to party President Sher Bahadur Deuba.
The NC celebrates 16 days of Paush from (December 31) as National Reconciliation Day to mark the return of legendary Nepali Congress leader BP Koirala and Ganesh Man Singh from self-exile with the message of national unity.
Thapa and Sharma said the party rank and file was frustrated over loss of opportunity to form the government despite the party winning the largest number of seats in the HoR, but that frustration was natural. "Now we have responsibility to introspect and admit our mistakes before preparing a blueprint for the future," they stated.
In a rebuke to CPN-MC, which had left the Nepali Congress-led alliance to join hands with the CPN-UML, Thapa and Sharma stated: We can say with high moral ground that we are not a party that fought elections as one alliance partner and left the alliance after election to join hands with other parties.
They said the NC would play the role of a strong opposition in the Parliament. Stating that the NC had always overcome crises in the past, the duo said the party rank and file needed to change the present situation to a new opportunity to help the NC achieve its purification and renaissance. Stating that the party could not be rejuvenated as long as there was confusion, Thapa and Sharma said they would elect all party affiliated bodies, fill vacant posts, and carry out awareness campaign from the village to the central level.
"We need to be active to prepare the blueprint to ensure we are a strong NC," the duo added.
They said it was a victory of Koirala's thought that all political parties were pursuing peaceful politics, but they should also be vigilant that no dictator or extremist force was born out of this system. They said NC would continue to pursue the path of national reconciliation espoused by BP Koirala as the belief that balanced foreign relations, strengthened democracy, and good governance would pave the way for the country's prosperity.
A version of this article appears in the print on January 1, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
