On Tuesday, the second day of the Nepali Congress Mahasamiti meeting, party general secretary Gagan Thapa reiterated the need for the party to contest the next elections independently in order to gain the trust and support of its cadres and well-wishers.

Thapa, however, clarified that the current ruling coalition would continue until the next elections, citing the party’s commitment made to the people during the previous polls.

When Thapa presented his organisational report at the meeting—where he spoke of why the party should avoid electoral alliances like those struck in the 2022 general, provincial and local elections—a large number of Mahasamiti members welcomed the anti-alliance proposal with a round of applause.

Thapa’s proposal, initially introduced at the party’s central committee meeting last week, sparked division among leaders and riled the party president, Sher Bahadur Deuba, who even instructed Thapa to amend his report to support electoral alliances.

Despite Deuba’s insistence, Thapa refused to budge, and eventually on Monday night, Deuba relented and accepted the proposal, which was formally tabled at Tuesday’s meeting.

“We have made a commitment to the people and our partners in the last elections, so the current alliance will continue until the end of this parliamentary term. We had asked for votes for a five-year term for this coalition, so we should remain honest to our promise,” Thapa said on Tuesday.

On the day, besides Thapa’s, four other political documents were presented. Party vice-president Purna Bahadur Khadka, general secretary Bishwa Prakash Sharma, Finance Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat and the head of party’s audit department, Shyam Kumar Ghimire, presented their respective papers in the closed-door session of the meeting.

Leaders said the Monday night deal between Deuba and Thapa paved the way for smooth deliberations in Tuesday’s closed-door session.

“One should understand that forming a pre-election alliance is not a regular political exercise in a democracy, but a forced situation,” said Thapa. “Realising this fact, we will contest future periodic elections on our own strength and we will ensure that our voters can cast their votes on the Nepali Congress’ election symbol.”

“In the last local, provincial and federal elections, due to our alliance in several electoral constituencies, our supporters and well-wishers could not vote for the party,” Thapa said while reading out his report. He said Congress supporters in 74 electoral constituencies were unable to vote for their party’s candidates and were instead compelled to solicit votes for candidates of other alliance partners.

Thapa also proposed that the party pick its electoral candidates through primaries as in the US, and amend the party charter accordingly.

The Rastriya Swatantra Party was the only party to implement this practice in the November 2022 elections.

He has also proposed convening the 15th Congress general convention by December 2025. “Let’s start preparations now,” he said.

Similarly, while presenting the paper on contemporary politics, the other general secretary, Bishwa Prakash Sharma, spoke on pressing issues such as advancing democracy, developing democratic culture, navigating diverse political ideologies, addressing challenges of governance, understanding people’s frustration and fulfilling people’s aspirations through corrections in the policies and the political system.

All five papers had been presented in the party’s central working committee meeting last week and revised by incorporating suggestions and feedback.

In his report, Sharma provided the context on the formation of the existing coalition and said all members are committed to it.

“As no political party commands a majority in Parliament, there is no alternative to giving continuity to the present alliance in order to fulfil the responsibilities to the nation and the people. And, the Congress should shoulder most of this responsibility,” Sharma said in his report.

His report also made a mention of the recent political ‘debacle’ in the Koshi province. With the initial support of the CPN-UML, in October last year, Congress’s Karki became the chief minister of Koshi province although the CPN (Maoist Centre) was claiming the same post. And in the National Assembly elections last month, Maoist candidate Champa Karki lost to UML’s Rukmini Koirala. Subsequently, Maoist leaders have publicly accused the Congress voters of betraying their candidate, Karki.

“We have to take such incidents seriously, identify where the problem lies, and find out how to avoid such mistakes and misunderstandings in the future,” Sharma added.

Both Sharma and party vice president Khadka in their reports have highlighted the occasional rise of ‘ultra nationalism’ in Nepali society.

There is a need to be very careful to prevent such a situation from happening again as it can impact foreign investment environment, added Sharma.

In his policy document, Vice-president Khadka said establishing good governance by eradicating corruption is the main policy of Nepali Congress.

Finance Minister Mahat’s report on the country’s financial situation painted a positive outlook for the economy.

“When the government was being formed and I was about to take the helm of the finance ministry, many economic indicators were unfavourable,” said Mahat, adding, “After the fiscal year’s budget, where I proposed a series of programs for economic reforms, economic conditions are improving.”

Meanwhile, a section of the Congress leaders who have launched a signature campaign for the restoration of the Hindu state said 900 Mahasamiti members and central working committee members have signed their petition by Tuesday.