Youth leaders of the Nepali Congress have launched a nationwide campaign ‘Nepali Congress Rupantaran Abhiyan’ (transformation campaign) for a redressal of the party’s modus operandi. As part of which, they have held major gatherings in all seven provinces.

On Sunday, the party held a virtual interaction programme with the Nepali diaspora. The youth leaders of Congress have also been mulling district-level major gatherings under the campaign, which was initiated after the party faced a drubbing in the bypolls.

“The gatherings in seven provinces were a huge success,” said Bhupendra Jung Shahi, a Congress leader who is at the forefront of the campaign. “The voices for transformation are more intense at the grassroots level.”

The young leaders have been putting in efforts to unite the cadres across the country and reconnect with the voters after the bypolls, where the ascendant Rastriya Swatantra Party candidates had trounced Congress candidates with overwhelming margins in Tanahun and Chitwan constituencies.

Madhu Acharya, a party central committee member who is also a leader of the campaign, said most of the participants at the gatherings were youths in the age group of 18-40 years and there was also a significant participation of women.

The leaders of the transformation campaign say they will compile and summarise the suggestions received at rallies, gatherings and interaction programmes and submit it to the party leadership. “If the party holds the central committee meeting, we will submit the report at the meeting,” Acharya said. “If there’s no favourable environment to submit the report, we will start the programmes in the districts.”

The next phase of the campaign will also see rallies and gatherings, Acharya said. “We will hold a plenary in Kathmandu and also discuss with the central committee members,” he said.

The Congress leadership has long been criticised for ignoring the concerns related to party organisations. Many vacancies in the party’s departments and the central committee have not been filled up for a long time while its sister organisations also remain incomplete and passive.

The Congress party statute mandates that the central committee meetings be held every two months. But it has been 10 months since the party held its last central committee meeting.

Party leaders say most of the cadres have been demanding a special convention to change the leadership. “If the leadership is unwilling to change its course, we need to consider options such as a leadership overhaul,” Shahi said.

At least 25 percent of the party’s elected delegates should ask its central working committee to call a special convention for leadership change. Besides the regular convention, a special convention can replace the party leadership with majority votes.

After a continuous demand from youth leaders, the Congress is set to hold its policy convention in mid-September. The convention has been due since December 2021 when the party concluded its 14th general convention. The general convention only elected the new party leadership and deferred policy discussions citing the Covid-19 pandemic. The policy convention should have been organised within six months of the general convention.

Observers see a need for the transformation in the Nepali Congress given that the public’s frustration towards the old parties got reflected in the recent polls.

Geja Sharma Wagle, a political analyst, said transformation is a necessity in the party and that it has more potential for that than other parties. “Though not quite enough, the Nepali Congress has adopted the practice of internal democracy more than other political parties,” Wagle said. “Critical voices and calls for transformation are also stronger in the Congress than other parties.”

Youth leaders advocating transformation have been elected to crucial positions from the general convention—Wagle said that this differentiates Congress from other major parties. “Also a proper election had taken place to choose the parliamentary leader of the party,” he said. “Transformation seems more likely in the Congress.”