With less than a month to go for the election of the senior vice-president at the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), the country’s largest umbrella body of the private sector, two candidates vying for the post—Shekhar Golchha and Kishore Pradhan—have formally announced their panels.

Golchha announced his election team from Butwal amid a programme held on Sunday. His team includes Dinesh Shrestha, Chandra Prasad Dhakal and Umesh Lal Pradhan. They will compete for the posts of three vice presidents at the FNCCI.

These vice presidents are elected as representatives of district chambers, associates group and commodities association. 

Golchha also said Gyanendra Lal Pradhan will fight for the post of treasurer from his panel. 

“We will announce candidacies for rest of the posts after a few days,” Golchha told the Post over the phone. “We will make public our election slogan and agendas after 10 days.” 

Similarly, Pradhan has already announced Pramod Shrestha and Shanker Pandey as candidates for the posts of two vice-presidents representing district chambers and commodities association. Pradhan is yet to announce candidacies for rest of the posts.

He said he is working with his team to finalise the names of rest of the candidates. 

The FNCCI’s special general meeting (SGM) held on October 2016 enabled automatic elevation of the senior vice-president of the FNCCI to the post of president without taking part in the election. This is the reason why all eyes are now on election for the post of senior vice-president at the FNCCI. 

Bhawani Rana, the current senior vice-president of the FNCCI, will become its next president in mid-April. The candidate who wins the senior vice-president election this time will secure the top post of the FNCCI after the end of Rana’s tenure.