As the Nepali Congress is set to call for a Mahasamiti meeting next month, a big churning is in the offing inside the party that is expected to gather momentum in coming days. As well as discussion on the party’s future course, the meeting is expected to pave the way for its top brass to gear up for a new leadership.

The upcoming 14th General Convention of the party holds much significance because it will bid adieu to the party’s ageing leadership and welcome new faces.

A party Central Working Committee meeting called this Friday will decide the date and venue of the Mahasamiti meeting, the party’s highest policy-making body. The meeting will mull preparations for political and economic proposals, charter amendment, and preparatory committee meetings.

Thousands of Nepali Congress cadres from the country will attend the convention. They are expected to discuss the party’s debacle in 2017 elections among other topics. Members anticipate the meeting would create a battleground for a new party leadership that would face major challenges ahead of the next elections due in four years. NC Spokesperson Bishwo Prakash Sharma said, “The CWC meeting will take a call on Mahasamiti meeting, among others. It is likely to convene within a month.”

After the Mahasamiti meeting, party leaders will prepare for an internal election, distribution of active membership and restructuring of the party in the federal structure. Who would be the next party president remains a contentious issue with new groups and factions lobbying for their candidates.  

Leaders close to party President Sher Bahadur Deuba said he would test the floor once again and bid for another term. Second is Ram Chandra Poudel, another senior party leader who lost to Deuba in the last election. Krishna Prasad Sitaula, who lost the race for the secretary general post in the party’s last general convention, is in the contest too.

Adding a twist to the plot is the recent unity of two Koirala clans—Shashank and Shekhar. This has sent a signal that one of them would contest for the party president’s post. If they remain together and contest the election, it would be tough for both Deuba and Poudel factions to win. The Koiralas still command significant loyalty among party members.

“We are in talks, but nothing has been decided yet,” Shekhar Koirala told the Post over the phone from Biratnagar.

“Some people talk about the legacy of the Koiralas in the party, which is not true,” he said. “We have done enormous homework in the field and the pressure is mounting on us to lead the party to cope with the new challenges.”

Shekhar had planned to contest for the general secretary post during the party’s last general convention, but withdrew after Shashank decided to run for the same post.

Recently he has toured the districts amplifying party reforms agenda. Party observers construe this move as his quest for leadership.

Shashank was in the Deuba camp during the last general convention. His relationship with the party president has gone frosty recently.

The upcoming NC general convention is also important because veteran party leaders are likely to make way for young leaders.

Other party leaders, including Ram Sharan Mahat are discreetly lobbying for key posts. Young leaders like Gagan Thapa, Badri Pandey, Dhanraj Gurung, Chandra Bhandari and Ramhari Khatiwada are said to have decided whom to support as the race for the new leadership hots up.

It is too early to predict anything now, said Mahat. He said he has experience in the party and the government—qualities he believes are imperative for the next Congress president. “We have to select a candidate acceptable to all,” he said.