Following the defeat of Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa to party chief Sher Bahadur Deuba in the race for parliamentary party leadership on Wednesday, the party’s dissident faction led by Shekhar Koirala and Thapa has decided to assert itself against the establishment faction in the days ahead.

After losing the contest to Deuba with a margin of 39 votes, Thapa told reporters that he wouldn’t join the government whether it is led by the Congress or any other party in the ruling coalition.

“I am firmly in favour of a generational shift in politics,” Thapa said. “If the new government is led by the Congress, other friends may join it but I won’t.”

Another general secretary Bishwa Parkash Sharma, who actively supported Thapa’s bid for parliamentary party leader, also announced that he wouldn’t join the government. Sharma was elected to Parliament from Jhapa-1.

“Instead of joining the government, my priority will be to ensure effective coordination between party leaders and our ministers in the government,” Sharma said.

Koirala, who contested the post of party president against Deuba last year and lost, is focussing on strengthening his hold in the party organisation, according to Dinesh Chandra Thapaliya, his personal secretary.

“He is not at all interested in joining the government. He is in favour of giving the party more time,” Thapaliya told the Post. “He will send other leaders from our panel if we get respectable positions in the government.”

Following the announcement of three key leaders of the rival faction to stay outside the government, the faction could put considerable pressure on the party leadership to work responsibly.

As 76-year-old Deuba defeated Thapa in the parliamentary party election, the voice for generational shift in the party seems to have been muted for the moment. However, Deuba’s days ahead might not be as easy, observers say.

“Though Deuba defeated Thapa with a huge margin in the parliamentary party election, it will be hard for Deuba to lead the party by ignoring this group,” Shree Krishna Aniruddha Gautam, a political analyst, told the Post. “Dealing with the leaders who are not beholden to him will be a tough nut to crack for Deuba.”

After the election on Wednesday, Thapa also warned Deuba and other coalition partners not to make any decision on the sharing of key posts such as prime minister and president without the party’s formal mandate.

“The party will carry forth only the decisions that are taken institutionally. If such decisions are made behind closed doors, the party won’t be obliged to follow them.”

The parliamentary party of 89 lawmakers elected party president Deuba as its leader, with 64 votes.

With the Congress concluding the election to parliamentary party leader, the ruling coalition is now expected to intensify the government formation process as the deadline given by President Bidya Devi Bhandari is approaching fast. President Bhandari on December 18 had called lawmakers to come up with a proposal to form a government by December 25. The Congress-led alliance with 136 total seats in parliament is likely to form a new government with the support of a few fringe parties.

After his election on Wednesday, Deuba promised to steer the party without any bias against party dissidents.

“I will lead the party by accommodating all sides and taking all leaders into confidence,” Deuba said at the party’s parliamentary party office at Singha Durbar.

However, Gururaj Ghimire, a rival faction member, expressed doubts that Deuba would walk the talk. “We too wish to see Deuba make decisions by taking all leaders into confidence, but his past activities don’t inspire confidence,” Ghimire said.

“He had made a similar promise after being elected party president last year, but he then went back on his word,” Ghimire told the Post. “As soon as the general convention was over, he immediately started manoeuvring for personal gains.”

However, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, information and communications minister and a close aide to Deuba, said party leadership will accommodate all voices in a respectable way. “Even those who have campaigned for a generational shift will be accommodated,” Karki told the Post.

The Congress parliamentary party leader’s election was held on Wednesday morning. Leader Ram Chandra Poudel had proposed Deuba’s name for parliamentary party leader while vice-president Purna Bahadur Khadka seconded the proposal. Thapa’s candidacy was proposed by Shekhar Koirala and seconded by party vice-president Dhanaraj Gurung, another general secretary Bishwa Parkash Sharma, and Pradip Paudel.

In the HoR elections held on November 20, the Nepali Congress won 89 seats in the House, including 57 through the first-past-the-post and 32 from the proportional representation system.