Owing to deep disunity while selecting representatives, Tarun Dal, the youth wing of the Nepali Congress, is unlikely to complete all its district conventions in time in order to hold its 4th general convention set  for September 9-11 in Pokhara.

The general convention could be postponed for the third week of September after the Nepal Women Association’s conclave slated for September 14-16.

Despite the party leadership forming a central coordination committee to conduct the district conventions in time, only 60 districts have successfully completed the conventions so far.

The committee members say that it is not possible to conduct the conventions in the remaining timeframe. Dhanusha, Rupandehi, Rukum, Bajhang, Banke, Bhatkapur and Chitwan, among others, are yet to complete their district conventions. The district convention of Kathmandu has been scheduled for Monday.

The seven-member central coordination committee under Defence Minister Bal Krishna Khand has Umakant Chaudhary, Surendra Pandey, Ram Krishna Yadav, Sarita Prasai, Shankar Bhandari and Hridaya Ram Thani as members. Bhandari and Thani are also sitting ministers.

Though a coordination committee member claimed that the conclave was certain to be postponed, Khand could not confirm it. “We are trying our best to settle the disputes in the remaining districts. It is natural to have a few problems in an organisation that has not held polls since long,” he said.

In 2012, late NC President Sushil Koirala had formed a committee led by Udaya Rana to hold polls within six months. This is the first convention of Tarun Dal following the unification of two parties—one led by late Girija Prasad Koirala and another headed by Sher Bahadur Deuba—in 2007.

Other than the dispute in representatives, another stumbling block for the coordination committee is the challenge to settle disgruntled side demanding that the current central committee members should also be allowed to contest the polls.

When Rana was handed the responsibility to hold the polls in 2012, the party leadership had barred sitting central committee members from contesting.

“Many sitting members have wished to contest this time and it has been very difficult for the party leadership to take a decision on the matter,” said the coordination committee member. “But with so many other aspirants as well, we will settle them by increasing the number of posts.”

The Tarun Dal is likely to adopt a federal structure by having joint general secretaries take charge of over seven states. Sitting central committee members of the Nepal Students’ Union, another sister wing of the party, were also barred from contesting in the polls during their conclave held last month.

Student unions set to hold FSU polls in Feb

KATHMANDU: After a protracted dispute, the student wings of various political parties have found a common ground on holding the Free Student Union (FSU) elections on February 25 next year.

Setting aside their differences over the election modalities, the student wings have agreed to participate in the elections to be held under mixed system. The Tribhuvan University has already postponed the election date three times owing to non-cooperation from the student unions. The biennial election has not taken place since 2009.

The election scheduled for June 1, 2014 was called off after 18 student unions, led by the UCPN (Maoist)-affiliated All Nepal National Independent Student Union-Revolutionary, staged a protest demanding its cancellation, accusing the TU administration of working in favour of the student bodies that represent the ruling Nepali Congress and CPN-UML and announcing the election date under their pressure.

The poll slated for February 2012 was postponed after the student unions close to different political parties were divided over the election modality. Some advocated for first-past-the-post (FPTP), while the others insisted on introducing proportional system.

The election announced for June 2013 was also cancelled as the student unions affiliated to three major parties—NC, UML and UCPN (Maoist)—were found enrolling hundreds of fake students to secure their victory.

The TU, treading the middle path, has decided to adopt a mixed electoral system where half of the total officials will be elected through proportional system and the rest through the FPTP. Under the new system, president and treasurer are elected directly, while the posts of vice-chairman, secretary and members are distributed among the students based on the total number of votes they secure. “It’s already too late for the elections. We [10 student unions] are ready to participate in the election scheduled for February 25,” said Nain Singh Mahar, the president of the NC affiliated Nepal Student Union. There are currently 60 constituent and around 1,100 affiliated colleges under the TU where the elections of the FSU will be held. (PR)