A Central Working Committee meeting of the ruling Nepali Congress on Sunday reaffirmed the party’s commitment to the federal democratic republican constitution, passed by the Constituent Assembly in 2015.

Party spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat said that the meeting, convened to work out its official stance on the recent activities of pro-monarchy forces, decided to defend the constitution and the political system enshrined in it. “The party is fully committed to upholding the system envisioned by the current constitution,” Mahat said after the meeting.

Although an organisation affiliated to the Congress submitted a report to party president Sher Bahadur Deuba on Wednesday, suggesting that the party should rethink its stance on secularism, the party’s all-powerful Central Working Committee meeting on Sunday reiterated that it should not deviate from its previous commitments.

The meeting of party office bearers and former office bearers last Tuesday had decided to convene the Central Working Committee meeting to discuss the recent pro-monarchy activities.

Major political parties including the Congress, the CPN-UML, the CPN (Maoist Centre), which led the task of constitution writing, have held meetings and planned public gatherings to defend the federal democratic republican system after recent activities of the pro-monarchy groups.

Various groups that advocate reinstating Nepal as a Hindu kingdom staged demonstrations on March 9. The political parties were alerted after thousands of people gathered outside the Tribhuvan International Airport gates to welcome former king Gyanendra Shah who had returned after spending a few days in the tourist city of Pokhara.

During the Congress CWC meeting, senior party leader Arjun Narasingha KC presented his seven-point argument, stating that the public outcry on the streets was a collective expression of anger against corruption, bad governance, economic disorder, lawlessness, and impunity.

“Public outrage seen on the streets is not directed against the system but the prevailing conditions,” KC said. “If we ignore this and focus only on power, we will be no exception to what happened to the rulers of Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Syria.”

The Congress Professional and Intellectuals Department, along with the party-affiliated Democratic Lawyers’ Association (DLA), submitted a report to party president Deuba on Wednesday. However, the report was not discussed in Sunday’s meeting, said party leaders.

The report incorporated suggestions gathered from all seven provinces following extensive consultations nationwide with party workers and supporters.

According to Dila Sangroula, chief of the party’s Professional and Intellectuals Department, the report was prepared in line with the party’s priorities for constitutional amendments as pledged during the time of formation of the current government.

The Congress and the UML, while forming the present coalition in July last year, pledged to make some constitutional amendments to address issues such as the political instability seen in recent years.

A key recommendation in the report is holding a nationwide discussion on secularism. The 2015 Constitution declared Nepal a secular republic, but the study committee report suggests that the party should be open to discussing the proposal to reinstating Nepal as a Hindu state.

A group of pro-Hindu leaders of the party had collected signatures of Congress members in February last year demanding that the issue be discussed in the party’s Mahasamiti meeting.

“We collected signatures in favour of legitimising Nepal as a Hindu state during the Mahasamiti meeting,” said Shankar Bhandari, a Congress leader who leads the campaign within the party to reinstate Nepal as a Hindu state. “However, the party has yet to take necessary steps in this connection.”

Bhandari emphasised that the party should give serious attention to the growing public demand for a Hindu state and monarchy, especially in light of recent large-scale protests. “Our party should consider public demand,” Bhandari said.

Some party leaders, however, criticised Sangroula for submitting the report to the party chief without first discussing it within the party committee. President Deuba reportedly remained silent upon receiving the report submitted by the Sangroula-led group on Wednesday.

Party spokesperson Mahat also stated that there was no discussion on the report in Sunday’s meeting.

Nepali Congress Joint General Secretary Mahendra Yadav said it was inappropriate for the Sangroula-led team to submit its report directly to the party president without first presenting it at the Central Committee meeting. “That report doesn’t hold much meaning,” Yadav claimed.

Many have interpreted some noted Congress leaders’ increasing involvement in religious activities as their inclination towards the demand for Hindu state.

However, Shankar Tiwari, one of the younger Congress leaders, claimed the leaders’ visits to religious sites shouldn’t be seen as a shift in their political convictions.

“Each of the four stars on the Congress party’s flag holds a specific meaning, and one of them represents secularism. There is no possibility of the party abandoning secularism and supporting a Hindu state now.”

The report submitted by Sangroula also has recommendations for strengthening federalism by reducing the number of elected representatives. Specifically, it proposes the House of Representatives hold only 165 directly elected lawmakers, which proponents argue would make governance more efficient.