Despite Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba’s intervention, the party has failed to resolve the dispute over the date of the party’s convention that has dragged on for almost two months.

A meeting on Saturday, however, has shown an indication of the talks heading towards a positive direction as Deuba and senior party leaders have reportedly agreed to hold the party’s 15th General Convention by the middle of January.

But two former office bearers, Krishna Prasad Situala and Bimalendra Nidhi, have expressed reservations over holding the convention prior to the parliamentary elections on March 5.

Deuba, who was attacked and injured during the September Gen Z uprising, entrusted Purna Bahadur Khadka with the post of acting party president on October 14 and left for Singapore for treatment on October 27 urging party leaders to finalise the convention date swiftly.

As per “the message and the spirit of the movement,” the party immediately started discussions over leadership change from the second week of September but it has so far failed to sort out differences between the rival camps.

Deuba returned from Singapore on November 14 and started consultations with party leaders including present and former office bearers but has so far failed to end the stalemate.

After failing to agree on the convention date even after a four-hour-long meeting at Deuba’s residence, the leaders decided to postpone the scheduled central working committee meeting to Monday.

Party’s chief secretary Krishna Prasad Poudel issued a notice on Saturday evening and informed about the meeting’s deferral.

Party office bearers, central members, invited members, and the chairpersons of all seven provincial committees are called to attend the meeting.

At Saturday’s meeting, Deuba told party leaders that if not by December end, “then let’s at least bring the schedule for the regular general convention and move forward by holding it in January,” the office bearer said. Despite Deuba’s proposal, however, disagreement persisted among the leaders, the office bearer said.

Deuba insisted on holding a regular convention, not a special one as demanded by a section of party representatives.

Acting party president Purna Bahadur Khadka, general secretaries Gagan Thapa, Bishwa Prakash Sharma, Shekhar Koirala, Ramesh Lekhak, Bimalendra Nidhi, and Krishna Prasad Sitaula, among others, sat for a meeting with Deuba on Saturday.

Thapa, Sharma, Koirala and Lekhak are in favour of a special convention by December end while Nidhi and Sitaula are holding convention only after the March elections. Nidhi and Sitaula are for taking the decision through vote among central working committee members. But Deuba expressed his willingness to resolve the dispute and for that, he proposed to hold a regular convention ahead of the elections in March.

Acting president Khadka has already said that the meeting will be postponed until a unanimous decision can be made.

The two rival camps have been disputing over whether the party’s convention should be held before or after the March polls. There is also a dispute over whether to hold 15th regular general convention or special convention as demanded by 54 percent elected representatives.

General secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma have been maintaining the stance that if a regular general convention is not held within December end, there will be no alternative to holding a special general convention before the polls.

Some office bearers close to President Deuba and some former office bearers, meanwhile, have said the general convention should be held only in April/May, after the March elections.

Some leaders, opposing the idea of a special general convention, have taken the position that a regular general convention should be held in May/April.

In the midst of this dispute, acting party president Khadka has held several rounds of negotiations with senior leaders but failed to find a solution.

Leaders said that, after returning from Singapore, Deuba held several rounds of talks with present and former office bearers and urged them to hold the regular convention. Deuba fears that a special convention could split the party, a leader close to Deuba said. “That is why Deuba has been advising party leaders to introduce a timeline to hold a regular convention at the end of December to the middle of January,” the leader said.