Most of them have not been on the limelight and are below 50 years but have gained experience in several party responsibilities. Party seniors view the younger leaders' enthusiasm positively, hoping that it gives the UML renewed strength.

This bid of the youth leaders, both on the side of chairman candidates Madhav Kumar Nepal and KP Sharma Oli, is unprecedented. At various forums, they have presented their calls for inducting new faces in the 149-strong central body.

Above 500 UML leaders and cadres have expressed their desire to contest the election for various party positions.

Leaders say more youths are ready to announce their candidacy as the convention date approaches. Though official panels of both Nepal and Oli are yet to be announced, these hopefuls are seen as kingmakers as rivalry between the titans intensifies.

As of Monday, youth leaders Surya Thapa (formerly press adviser to PM Jhala Nath Khanal), former student leaders Hikmat Karki, Kailash Dhungel, Khim Lal Bhattarai, Gokul Baskota (journalist), Pramod Dahal (journalist) and Upendra KC (journalist) are on the Oli panel. Ganesh Dhagunna of Darchula, Rajan Bhattarai (former foreign relations adviser to PM Nepal), Ghanshyam Pandey, Mahesh Basnet (party's youth association chief), Niru Pal (vice chairperson of Youth Association Nepal), Hira Bahadur KC, Lal Bahadur Thapa and Madhav Dhungel Oli supporter candidates come from student politics or distict leadership.

Other central member candidates are former chairmen of the party's student wing Rajendra Rai and Rabindra Adhikari, who is now a lawmaker, and Tanka Karki (former ambassador) are also vying for a berth on the central committee. Adhikari was elected Constituent Assembly member in 2008 and 2013 and Karki served as the ambassador to China.

Contesting on Nepal's side are Deepak Prakash Bhatta, Tara Joshi, Ram Kumari Jhakri, Gagan Bista and Neeraj Acharya. Rajan, Bhatta and Joshi are PhD holders from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Bhatta worked as a member of the technical committee under the Special Committee formed to integrate and rehabilitate Maoist combatants.

Joshi lost the second Constituent Assembly elections. Bista is a former chairman of Press Chautari Nepal. Jhakri is the former ANNFSU chief who was a popular face in the Jana Andolan II. An avid campaigner against the royal coup of 2005, she was taken into custody by the regime for several times.

CA member Yagya Raj Sunuwar and Rabin Koirala are also filing their candidacy from the Nepal faction. Sunuwar and Koirala were elected CA members under the first-past-the-post system from Okhaldhunga and Jhapa districts, respectively.

"I am happy to see so many youth contenders. This results from our policy to promote intra-party democracy," said Standing Committee member Bharat Mohan Adhikari.

Adhikari, 78, who has worked for the party for 62 years, has announced not to hold any executive position in the party. "Now onwards, I will only advise the party," he said.

The UML adopted a policy of intra-party democracy from its seventh General Convention, allowing all party members to contest for central positions. After the 2009 Butwal convention, the party decided to go for collective leadership, creating several executive positions such as chairperson, vice-chairpersons and secretaries.

This convention, the statute has set 70 as the retiring age from active politics in view of making the party more vibrant by handing over leadership to a younger generation.