With a year to go before its 15th general convention, the race for the prize of the Nepali Congress president is starting to heat up.

Senior party leader Shekhar Koirala has ‘unofficially’ kicked off his campaign to win the party’s coveted post from Sudurpaschim Province, traditionally a stronghold of party president Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Starting the campaign in Deuba’s heartland and getting strong support of party leaders and cadres in the region means he wants to win Deuba's support too, said a Congress leader of the Koirala camp.

Koriala, who lost the party president election to Deuba at the 14th general convention in December 2021, is contesting again. The two-term limit imposed by the party charter for the top post prevents Deuba from running again.

The incumbent president has so far not disclosed who he will support as his successor. Another potential candidate is General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa, who has not officially declared his candidacy but has already activated his network and mechanism to win the support of party workers across the country.

Koirala on Friday interacted with party leaders and cadres of nine districts in the Sudurpaschim Province and sought their support for his bid.

He and other central members interacted for six hours with local party leaders in Dhangadhi and solicited their views, Govind Raj Pokahrel, who was with Koirala, told the Post. “We had excellent interactions, following rousing welcome from the party leaders and cadres alike in Dhangadhi,” Pokharel said.

“You can call it an ‘unofficial’ launch of the campaign but the focus is also on putting pressure on the party leadership to hold the 15th general convention on time,” said Pokharel. “That is the central thrust of the meetings and interactions.”

But the prospect of convening the 15th general convention in December 2025 is slim as the party encounters new complications in the distribution of active membership. Only active members can elect party leaders from the ward level. Those elected ward members later vote for the party’s representatives from all 165 electoral constituencies, who in turn vote for the new party leadership.

“In order to complete the local conventions on time, we sent active membership application forms to the 165 constituencies as well as party chapters abroad but no constituency has completed its task,” a Congress office bearer said. “This could push back the general convention.”

The Congress has formed a task force to look into issues related to the general convention.

The general convention is likely to be deferred by a year due to a number of political and technical issues, said Congress lawmaker Ramhari Khatiwada. As per the Congress charter, the party can defer the general convention by a year citing unavoidable circumstances.

According to party leaders, there is a big churn happening inside the Congress, with old factions and groups either dismantled or taking new shapes in light of the upcoming general convention.

For instance, former foreign minister NP Saud, a longtime aide to Deuba, joined the Koirala faction.

More leaders of the Deuba camp have also joined Koirala or Thapa factions. With Deuba out of the race, there is now a competition between Koirala and Thapa to pull leaders from the Deuba camp into their folds, said a Congress central committee member.

Though Deuba has kept his cards close to his chest, many Congress leaders believe General Secretary Thapa is now making inroads into the Deuba camp. The two have been getting closer after CPN-UML chair KP Sharma Oli became the prime minister in July.

“Deuba has so far refrained from fully supporting Thapa, Koirala or any other candidate,” said Khatiwada, chair of the federal parliament’s State Affairs Committee. There is also a chance of Deuba rooting for Dr Shashanka Koirala as next party president.

“I will build a Nepali Congress suitable to the times we live in after the 15th general convention,” Shekhar Koirala said in Dhangadhi on Saturday. “In order to strengthen the party, I am ready to take over its leadership.”

Koirala said the focus is on holding the general convention by December 2025 as stipulated in the charter, and there should be “no ifs and buts about this”.

Soon after he lost the party presidency in 2021, Koirala started campaigning for the next convention, travelling across the country, meeting party cadres and most often playing the role of the party’s “opposition” leader.

Congress central working committee member Ajaya Babu Shiwakoti, who is close to Gagan Thapa, said Thapa is busy handling the mechanism formed by the ruling Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML to make the government’s work effective, as well as with the party’s internal works, “which is why he appears slow in preparing for the next convention”.

“But he [Thapa] is constantly in touch with party leaders and cadres across the country,” said Shiwakoti. “Also, there have been no serious talks between Koirala and Thapa on who will contest the post of party president.”

Thapa contested and won the general secretary position from the Koirala camp at the last convention. While Koirala lost the top post, Thapa won with a wide margin of votes.

There is a section of leaders in the Koirala-Thapa camp who still believe the two leaders should come together and contest the elections in consensus so that the camp can win a maximum number of seats in the Congress central working committee and other bodies of the party.