Crisis has deepened in the Nepali Congress after two senior leaders—Ram Chandra Poudel and Krishna Prasad Sitaula—boycotted the Central Working Committee meeting on Tuesday amid differences with party President Sher Bahadur Deuba for approving the party’s charter with majority votes and undermining the decision of the recently held Mahasamiti meeting. 

The main opposition has been embroiled in serious disputes over policy related issues and organisational structures after the party suffered heavy loss in the three-tier elections in 2017.

From the election debacle to the recently concluded Mahasamiti meeting to the dissolution of the party’s student organisation—Nepal Student Union, the senior Congress leaders have a lot to disagree about.

Poudel and Sitaula boycotted the Tuesday’s CWC meeting to register their disapproval of Deuba’s decision to endorse the new party charter against the decision of the Mahasamiti meeting.

The Mahasamiti meeting in December 2018 had decided, among other things, to amend the party’s charter to ensure a provision, whereby those leaders who aspire to contest for the CWC seats during the general convention should be first elected from the grassroots level—a proposition also supported by more than 50 district presidents of the party.

But Deuba repudiated the proposal, saying that the it would trim the chances of prospective party leaders getting elected in the CWC.

Ignoring the Mahasamiti meeting’s decision, the CWC meeting on Monday approved the party charter with the majority votes.

“This has never happened in the history of Nepali Congress,” said Situala  “The way party leadership took the decision violated the decision taken by the Mahasamiti meeting as well as the sentiments of thousands of Nepali Congress cadres.”

The Mahasamiti meeting and the party’s district presidents had also asked the CWC to end the cycle of picking same leaders under the proportional representation quota. The request, too, was ignored when the CWC meeting endorsed the party charter.

The Sitaula and Poudel factions have also opposed the move of the Deuba camp to form Discipline Committee and Election Committee without consultations.

“We fear that in the name of maintaining discipline, the establishment camp is trying to target the leaders from the rival factions,” said leader Arjun Narsingh KC, who is critical of Deuba’s leadership.

KC claimed that Deuba had ignored the rival leaders’ request to take important party decisions through consensus. 

Poudel and Situala have decided to reach out to the party supporters across the country and gather their support against the decision taken by the CWC.