Top Nepali Congress leadership has decided to declare truce over the proposals of two party general secretaries—Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma—at least for the time being.

A meeting of the present and former Congress office bearers on Saturday decided to take a mid-way approach to the two proposals that Thapa and Sharma presented during the Mahasamiti meeting in February. The proposals are being discussed at the party’s central working committee meeting.

The party’s central working committee is scheduled to meet on Sunday to seek a consensus on the proposals. The meeting will approve Thapa’s proposal with some minor changes while Sharma’s paper will be pushed back, to be taken up while amending the constitution, party leaders say. The bone of contention is holding the party’s 15th general convention as per the schedule.

During the Mahasamiti meeting in February, General Secretary Gagan Thapa proposed that the party should not forge any political alliance for the 2027 general and provincial elections but should contest the polls on its own.

The meeting endorsed the proposal and forwarded it to the central working committee for further consideration and a final decision.

At the same meeting, the party’s other general secretary, Bishwa Prakash Sharma, had proposed an ‘exit policy’ for senior leaders, recommending term limits: one term for the [nation’s] President, two terms for prime minister, three terms for ministers, and four terms for lawmakers.

Both Sharma’s and Thapa’s proposals were thoroughly discussed at the party’s central working committee meeting that began on August 7.

Many members close to party president Sher Bahadur Deuba opposed Sharma’s ‘exit policy’, and there was considerable dissent over Thapa’s proposal to avoid electoral alliances.

The proposals forwarded by the Mahasamiti meeting sparked heated debate in the central working committee. The establishment faction led by Deuba wants to amend the proposals, while Thapa and Sharma want endorsement of their proposals without any changes.

To discuss these proposals, the party called a meeting of the central working committee beginning August 7, where the members were sharply divided.

In order to seek a common ground and to prevent any dispute, Deuba, the party president, kept on reaching out to top leadership as well as Thapa and Sharma multiple times.

On Saturday, too, senior leaders like Bimalendra Nidhi, Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar, and others opposed Sharma's proposal saying that a democratic party should not shut the door for competition. However, Sharma has a different take and says people have been frustrated at seeing the same old faces in national politics.

Sharma told the Post that since the exit policy is linked with the constitutional provision, it will be discussed during the time of reviewing the constitution and an appropriate decision taken.

"The proposal to limit the prime ministerial job for two terms will be endorsed by Sunday's meeting. This policy decision will be approved by consensus. No matter how famous the prime minister, he or she cannot serve for more than two terms," Sharma claimed.

In an agreement signed before the formation of the current government, the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML have committed to reviewing certain provisions of the constitution, drawing on the lessons from nearly a decade of federal exercise.

On Thapa's proposal, Sunday’s meeting will decide that all of the party's supporters and well-wishers will vote for the party's symbol "tree" in the next elections without mentioning electoral alliances.

However, leaders close to Deuba say that decisions on electoral alliances are strategic and should be left until the election time.

Thapa's proposal will be approved with amendments, said Shyam Ghimire, the chief whip of the party. Sharma’s proposal will be kept as it is and will be raised during the time of constitutional amendments. Both general secretaries have established their agendas in the party, a central committee member said. The debate has generated good response inside and outside the party.

Both general secretaries have also put enough pressure on Deuba to ensure that the party's upcoming 15th general convention should convene on time.

During the central working committee meeting in February, Thapa had proposed holding the 15th general convention on schedule—or by mid-December 2025. The general convention elects the party new leadership. Thapa has already proposed a timeline for the general convention, but the party has yet to take a decision.

The 14th general convention was held in December 2021. The party charter gives each elected body a tenure of four years. But if the general convention could not occur within four years, the charter provisions a one-year extension. Further, Nepal’s constitution authorises a six-month deferral if a situation of emergency makes holding the convention difficult.

At the central working committee meeting, Congress members were divided on whether to amend and approve the proposal or reject it outright. Deuba has been talking to Congress office bearers over the last few days, but there has been no progress. “Now we cannot wait beyond Sunday as the party has to gear up for several other works,” Congress leaders said.