The long-delayed central committee meeting of the Nepali Congress started in Lalitpur on Tuesday. The meeting, which continues for several days, is expected to see heated exchanges between rival factions—amid growing dissatisfaction over the way the party is being run and its participation in the government.

Interestingly, for the first time in the party’s history, the meeting was live-streamed on social media showcasing an exercise of transparency in the grand old party.

On the first day of the meeting held after some 10 months, party leaders presented their reports. Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba concluded the day’s discussions saying they would resume at 11am on Wednesday.

General Secretary Gagan Thapa presented a proposal on a year-long organisational work plan with a timeline prepared by the central office for ‘rejuvenating’ the party amid growing competition from newer parties.

As it aims to induct more than half a million new members, the party will organise campaigns in three phases throughout the next year.

“We have scheduled events for each month with special themes,” said Thapa. “Our central members will get rest for just a month once this work plan is implemented. They will have to be busy in various party activities throughout the year.”

As part of the plan, said Thapa, all the leaders including the party president will have to visit their respective wards (where they have ancestral homes) to attend party functions on January 26 next year. “The party’s ward committees will organise functions at all 6,743 wards of the country and all the leaders must reach their wards to take part in the ‘Congress [party] in all Toles campaign.”

Tole in Nepali refers to small settlements, which are part of a ward and parties have their units in all Toles.

Thapa also presented a plan to engage youths and younger people in the party through various events and functions to familiarise them with the party’s revered late leaders like Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala, Ganesh Man Singh and Krishna Prasad Bhattarai.

Giving a briefing on the party’s performance in the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government, party vice-president and Deputy Prime Minister Purna Bahadur Khadka explained how the party managed to regain lost power after two months.

“Even after emerging as the largest party in the [November 2022] elections, the party was reduced to the main opposition status, denting the morale of party leaders and cadres,” said Khadka. “And we had almost lost the presidency, but we still managed to clinch it by extending a trust vote to the prime minister.”

Khadka requested party leaders to offer suggestions to leaders in government positions at federal and provincial levels so that they could perform better.

Party leader Ananda Dhungana, presenting a proposal on disciplinary action, said he exempted 35 leaders from such action at the request of party president and has requested the central working committee to endorse the exemptions. The leaders were earlier recommended for disciplinary action for acting against the party during the elections.

According to Dhungana, as many as 2,100 complaints were filed against the party leaders and cadres, accusing them of involvement in activities aimed at defeating party leaders, but they could not be investigated due to a shortage of members in the disciplinary committee.

The party statute envisions a five-member disciplinary committee with one convener and four members, but curiously no members were appointed to the committee.

While presenting a report on the elections, leader Gopal Man Shrestha lauded the leadership for successfully securing first position in the federal and provincial elections. He, however, said the party has to work hard to boost Proportional Representation votes.

Chief whip Ramesh Lekhak, presenting his report on developments on the parliamentary front, urged all Congress lawmakers to regularly attend Parliament meetings.

He also urged the party president and leader of the parliamentary party to appoint chairs of the parliamentary committees at the earliest. Parties in Parliament have yet to reach an agreement on sharing the parliamentary thematic committees among themselves.

Meanwhile, a group of party leaders including central member Madhu Acharya and former central member Gururaj Ghimire demanded that the party should never forge electoral coalitions and contest elections on its own individual strength.

Earlier, after party president Deuba refused to entertain suggestions from Congress leaders on rejuvenating the party, the leaders formed a forum titled ‘Congress Transformation Campaign’ and submitted a 16-page suggestion to Deuba through the party’s central office.

The campaign has collected suggestions from different sections of society. According to leaders involved in the campaign, the suggestions were compiled after holding discussions in all seven provinces and among the diaspora.

They have also suggested that the Proportional Representation system should be scrapped and at least 33 percent constituencies should be set aside exclusively for women. The campaign has also demanded the party to rethink the provincial governance.

“Discussions should focus on whether the effectiveness of provinces can be increased or should their alternatives be sought,” states a suggestion. “The National Assembly should be proportionally inclusive and [the country’s] vice-president should chair the upper House.”

The suggestions were made at a time when frustration is rising among party leaders and cadres.

“We will see how the central working committee will take our suggestions,” said Gururaj Ghimire, a member of the campaign. “If they are ignored, we will go public with these suggestions in all 77 districts.”

Ghimire claimed that more than 1,000 leaders from various Congress committees were involved in the preparation of the 21 suggestions.