The bone of contention is the request to include all 111 odd leaders of the Khadka camp in the Central Committee chosen by the Special Convention, which is not possible unless the NC's constitution passed by the Special Convention is amended
The infighting between the Gagan and Deuba group in the Nepali Congress (NC) has raised people's eyebrows for several reasons. Firstly, the fissure in the NC weakens democracy in the country if we peep back into its history. When Sher Bahadur Deuba formed a Democratic Congress Party after breaking from the NC in 2002, King Gyanendra assumed the role of absolute monarch, putting leaders behind bars imitating his father King Mahendra who banned multi-party polity in the sixties. Secondly, the country had to launch a movement against the King ultimately establishing republicanism in Nepal, showing an exit to the 270-year-old monarchy in the country. Thirdly, development certainly took a back seat as the country was engaged in political movements.
Similar dark clouds appear on the political horizon of Nepal at the present. It all began with the Gen Z movement which displaced the near-to-two-thirds majority coalition government of the NC and the Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) headed by Prime Minister K P Oli after the brutal killing of about 76 young protestors. Their demand was to eradicate corruption and establish good governance in the country through the infusion of young generational leaders as it would not be possible with the continuation of the many tainted septuagenarian leaders in the country.
As the senior leaders did not sense the new political wave blowing in the country, Gagan Thapa, the General Secretary of the NC, held a special convention as it was difficult to face the electorate with the old political outfit. It was participated by majority of the Congress party members, which was recognised by the Election Commission and later by the Supreme Court, duly dismissing the petition of the Deuba group on both the occasions.
The excesses of the old party leaders were so astronomical that the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) under the leadership of Balen Shaha created an unprecedented wave. The NC was also totally eclipsed as reflected by the defeat of Gagan Thapa himself due to a paucity of time to convey the message of change to the people. Even then, the NC was able to bag the second largest number of seats in the parliament whilst the other parties like the UML, Nepali Communist Party, and Rastriya Prajatantra Party sank deep below with all the Madhes-based parties nowhere in the picture.
Gagan was then charged for the NC's electoral debacle, especially by those who had contested the election under his leadership. They did not even realise that the performance of the NC would have been even worse had Gagan not initiated the reform. Gagan had resigned taking responsibility for the defeat exercising high moral standard, but his opponents portrayed it as orchestrated after the Central Committee rejected his resignation.
There is no major ideological difference as such between the two factions. The minor perceptual difference however is in the senior leaders maintaining that the Gen Z movement, though begun with good intentions, was hiked by scrupulous elements leading to the tragedy that followed. They differ with the widespread perception also shared by the Gagan group that it had only to do with the corruption and bad governance exercised by the old parties. They instead hold the geo-political and internal conspiracy responsible for this unfortunate state of affairs.
Whatever the reality, the old group has accepted the present leadership after being recognised by both the Election Commission and the Court. The Gagan group has also agreed to assimilate them to the extent possible. The bone of contention has however been the request to include all the 111 odd leaders of the Khadka camp in the Central Committee chosen by the Special Convention, which is not possible unless the constitution passed by the Special Convention is amended. It can be done only in the next 15th convention slated for the month of Aswin. The only alternative is to follow the existing constitution.
People are regretting having voted the RSP to power as evidenced by some of them even stopping the ringing of the bell in daily worship, its election symbol, in protest against the devaluation of several democratic norms. These consist of the walk-out of the Prime Minister during the Presidential address and the absence in the Parliament proceedings to name a few. The need of a strong democratic party like the NC has been felt across the length and breadth of the country.
All these events have been occurring at a time when the opposition parties are in political shambles. Whether they be the NC, UML, NCP, the RPP or the Madhes-based parties, the struggle between the old and the new generation continues with the old sticking to their positions and the new trying to displace them.
Due to near-to-two-thirds-majority in the Parliament, the RSP is likely to last a full term unless some vertical division occurs in the party. If the morning shows the day, the RSP will continue with the anti-people actions under way whether due to inexperience or intentions. For preventing this to happen, there is a need of a strong opposition in the Parliament even though weak by numbers.
For this, the NC has to put up a united face failing which the RSP will continue with its nude political dance. It is against this backdrop that the ball has come into Gagan's court on the virtue of being its leader to settle the problem under the ambit of the present constitution in a way that the life-time contribution of the old leaders is recognised. The Deuba group should also abandon its intransigence, failing which they will be isolated as already evidenced by the slow but steady flight of its followers to the opposite camp.