At a time when Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba is pressed not to contest the Parliamentary Party (PP) elections, leaders close to him have said that the true intention of the rival faction led by Ram Chandra Poudel is to “weaken the party”, not to hand over leadership to a new generation.

Leaders close to Deuba say that the calls from party leaders for changing the PP leader are not aimed at reforming the party but at consolidating power.

They argue that if Poudel faction leaders are really serious about handing over the party leadership to a new generation, they must field leaders like Gagan Thapa in the PP vote. “This is not the first time they [Poudel faction] are contesting election against Deuba. They have always projected themselves as Deuba’s competitors in the party,” said Central Working Committee member Min Bahadur Bishwakarma.

“If they wanted to hand over the party leadership to a young generation, they could have forwarded a young leader like Thapa rather than Prakash Man Singh,” he said. 

The Deuba faction seems to have taken the pressure from the Poudel faction easy. “After the election, the party is in a difficult situation. This is why they are trying to weaken Deuba,” Bishwakarma said. Singh is a senior leader of the Poudel faction who won the Kathmandu-1 seat in the recent House of Representatives elections.

Leaders close to him say that Poudel would have fought against Deuba for the PP leader if he had won the election. Despite attempts by General Secretary Shashank Koirala to elect the PP leader in consensus, there are no signs of an agreement yet. The faction led by Krishna Prasad Sitaula, however, is undecided whom to support in the PP vote.

Bhimsen Das Pradhan, a senior leader from the Sitaula camp, has already announced his support for Deuba. Sitaula himself is urging Deuba not to be in the race. Youth leader Thapa is of the view that the leadership must be handed over to a new generation. As Deuba has a strong backing in the PP, support of the Sitaula faction, however, does not make much of a difference.

A party committee formed to elect the PP leader unveiled the election programme on Friday. According to it, the final list of voters will be out on Sunday evening. On the same day, the final list of candidates will be published.

The vote will take place on Monday morning. Deuba and Singh have already announced their candidacy for the post.

Sitaula says party needs change

Kathmandu: Nepali Congress (NC) leader Krishna Prasad Sitaula has said the party is in the need of change. 

Speaking at an event on “contemporary political situation and the role of Nepali Congress” organised by the Nepali Congress Kathmandu constituency-6 here Friday, he predicted that “the party would lose its existence if it failed to make adjustment with a changing context.” 

According to him, ideological discussion is necessary within in the party through a new course. He blamed policy-level, strategic, divisions and other various practical weaknesses for the party’s defeat in the recent elections. He accused the Communist parties of Nepal of working just for partisan interests while in the government, but not for the welfare of nation. 

NC central member Pradip Poudel said weak psychology was one of the reasons behind party’s defeat in the election. 

Lawmaker Bhimsendas Pradhan stressed on the need of giving chance to new faces for serving as the parliamentary leader. (PR)