Senior leader of Nepali Congress and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has decided to contest for the post of the Parliamentary Party (PP) leader to secure his PM candidacy.

According to NC statute, the PP leader is the only legitimate PM candidate for the party. A gathering of aides and close associates of Deuba including Central Working Committee (CWC) members and lawmakers held in Budhanilkantha on Friday backed his candidacy for the PP leader, advising him to seek consensus in the party first and try to be elected unopposed.

The CWC meeting slated for Saturday is likely to form a panel to conduct the PP leader election after both President Sushil Koirala and Deuba decided to fight for the post. Another hopeful, Vice President Ram Chandra Poudel is undecided about his participation in the race but is effortful to garner support for his PM bid.

As the largest party in the new Constituent Assembly, the NC has staked its claim to the post of prime minister but has failed to pick a unanimous candidate. As a result, the party is yet to prepare and present a power-sharing package to the CPN-UML and other parties.

Several rounds of talks between Koirala, Deuba and Poudel have failed to find an agreeable solution to the candidacy row.

“We advised him [Deuba] to move forward by seeking consensus with other PM hopefuls. But one should understand that election is also part of consensus, and the unopposed candidate can be elected,” said Purna Bahadur Khadka.

Though Deuba was said to be ready to give up his claim earlier in exchange for the role of acting party president, he did not mention the possibility of such trade-off.

In the last several days, Deuba has been meeting neutral Congress lawmakers should there be an election for the PP leader.

“It’s better to seek consensus before holding an election,” said Balkrishna Khad, a Deuba loyalist.

“We have decided to make an all-out effort to reach consensus with Koirala and Poudel.” Deuba supporters said the faction is unwilling to extend support to Koirala or Poudel.

During the 12th general convention of the party, it was Koirala who first advocated the policy of one-man-one-position.

“So it’s better for the president to run the party and support Deuba’s bid for premiership,” said Khad. During the gathering, leaders such as Gopal Man Shrestha, Khum Bahadur Khadka, Bimalendra Nidhi, Surendra Pandey, Prakash Saran Mahat, Ishowri Neupane, Sita Gurung, Sujata Pariyar, Mon Bahadur Bishwokarma, Kishor Singh Rathore and Bhishma Raj Aangdambe presented their views.