Central Working Committee member Bishwa Prakash Sharma has been appointed spokesperson for the Nepali Congress.

Prime Minister and party President Sher Bahadur Deuba exercised his power granted by the NC statute to assign the role to Sharma. The post had been vacant ever since the party’s 13th general convention held in 2016.

In the NC, the spokesperson is regarded as a senior post as he can participate in top meetings of the party. Before the elections to the House of Representatives and provincial assemblies, the position was said to be a deserving role for youth leader Gagan Thapa.

According to leaders, Thapa was promised the role. The party spokesperson serves as a member of the Central Executive Committee, a body tasked with taking decisions urgently in the absence of the CWC.

Deuba’s pick of a youth leader comes at a time when a team of them is campaigning for “leadership transformation” in the party.