Miscellaneous
Factionalism rears ugly head in Congress
Factionalism reared its ugly head in the Nepali Congress on Tuesday over the selection of candidates for the first phase of local level elections.Factionalism reared its ugly head in the Nepali Congress on Tuesday over the selection of candidates for the first phase of local level elections.
The Ram Chandra Poudel faction on Tuesday stood strongly against the Sher Bahadur Deuba group, accusing the latter of dominating the candidate selection process and giving more space to the Krishna Prasad Sitaula-led faction.
Several recommendations made by district committees were overruled and some decisions were taken unilaterally, said a leader close to Poudel, adding that candidates were selected in an unfair manner.
“Our president is running the party like a dictator,” said Poudel, expressing serious dissatisfaction over the candidate selection process.
The Poudel faction has expressed serious reservations about the selection of candidates in various districts including Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Dhading, Kaski, Syangja, Chitwan. Several names were changed at the last moment by the Deuba group, the Poudel group said, accusing the group led by the party president of picking candidates of its choice.
In Kathmandu, there was a tussle between senior leader Prakash Man Singh and a group led by Bhimsen Das Pradhan.
A dispute surfaced after the Singh faction dominated the candidate selection process. Dozens of NC caders chanted slogans in front of the party headquarters in Sanepa. A heated debate took a nasty turn after rival groups resorted to blows.
When asked about the factional feud in the party, which was also seen during the NC’s general convention last year, NC leader and Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Ramesh Lekhak said, “Such dissatisfactions emerge in the run-up to the elections, but they get gradually addressed in due course.”
NC candidate elected unopposed as Nar-phu chief
LAMJUNG: A Nepali Congress (NC) candidate has been elected unopposed as the chairperson of Nar-phu Village Council of Manang district. According to a source at the office of the election officer in Manang, Mingma Chhiring Lama, 43, was the only person to file his candidacy for the post of village council chair on Tuesday. Similarly, all ward chairpersons and members have been elected unopposed. There are five wards in the village council where the number of voters stands at 362. The NC candidates were elected unopposed in wards 1, 2 and 3 while independent candidates have been elected in wards 4 and 5.