The results of the Nepali Congress’ leadership election are now out—at least for three key positions, the party president, general secretary, and treasurer. The results do not come as much of a surprise.

After all, two of the winners are established party figures. The newly elected president, Sher Bahadur Deuba, has been prime minister three times and commands a vast patronage network across the country. Though the new general secretary, Shashank Koirala, is a relative newcomer in politics, he can be regarded as a member of the party establishment. After all, he is the scion of the venerable BP Koirala and as such commands much respect within the party, where BP’s grand legacy remains uncontested.

Only the election of new treasurer, Sita Devi Yadav, is somewhat surprising. She is a Madhesi woman who joined active politics only a decade and a half ago, after her politician husband was killed by the Maoists during the conflict.

Two of the three elected officials—Koirala and Yadav—belong to the so-called ‘establishment faction’, which has been in control of the party ever since Deuba split off to form a new party, Nepali Congress-Democratic, in 2002. The party was reunited in 2007. And Deuba was always seen as the leader of the minority faction.

The 13th General Convention election results will change that. Also, the two factions will now be forced to work together much more closely than they have in the past. This should potentially lead to greater cooperation and bonding between the two factions. It offers Deuba a golden opportunity to bury the factional politics for good, a trend that started as early as 1992 when the then prime minister and party president Girija Prasad Koirala went to mid-term polls after a sizeable group of the Nepali Congress MPs (36 of them) decided to openly defy his leadership.

Also noteworthy is the fact that three out of four candidates for the post of treasurer came from the Madhesi community. This was obviously an effort on the part of the leadership to cater to minority sentiments. As such, it is appreciable. However, more needs to be done to encourage the inclusion of historically marginalised groups in the party.  Among the three top positions, that of treasurer is the weakest. In Nepali politics, there has often been a tendency for individual leaders to control their own funds, thus leaving a relatively small role for the treasurer.

Deuba has a history of generally being more inclusive as a leader, which was evident when the breakaway NC-D was formed. In recent times, he has also paradoxically taken a strong position in favour of Akhanda Sudur Paschim, Undivided Far West, which sparked a great deal of anger among Tharu constituencies in the region.

There are two things that Deuba would do well to do now. He should give greater voice to youth leaders. And he should not promote tainted figures like Khum Bahadur Khadka in the name of political management.

It remains to be seen how the new party boss will manage the dissenting voices within the party and minority constituencies. Of course, it will be to the benefit of the country as a whole if the party ends its ugly history of factionalised politics and offers a unified vision, from the centre down to the grassroots.