Voting to elect a new CPN-UML leadership has been deferred till Wednesday morning citing technical glitches.

The party’s election commission was supposed to start polling at 9:00 pm Tuesday but it has been postponed, UML general secretary Shankar Pokhrel said.

Due to issues with electronic voting machines (EVMs), the voting process was delayed, forcing voters to disperse from their queue at Bhrikutimandap in Kathmandu on Tuesday evening.

“Because of the cold weather as well, we are not in a position to wait for a long time,” Pokhrel said. “Therefore, we inform you that the voting supposed to take place today [Tuesday] will be conducted tomorrow from 8 am at the same venue.”

The faction led by Ishwar Pokhrel, who has challenged KP Sharma Oli’s leadership, was against voting in the night time. Ahead of the postponement, party chair Oli and senior vice-chair Pokhrel had held a discussion.

UML Secretary Yogesh Bhattarai expressed concern over the delay in voting. Speaking to journalists at the convention venue, Bhattarai expressed his fear that if polling happened at night, there could be “unpleasant incidents”.

A total of 2,263 delegates will take part in the election process.

As many as 11 candidates have been elected unopposed while the candidacies of two were scrapped for having violated party norms. According to Vice-chair Sanuraj Pokharel of the party's Central Election Commission, their nomination was unanimous. The UML delegates will elect 301 central committee members from different groups, geographies and clusters.

Oli, who is seeking a third constitutive term, is challenged by Ishwar Pokhrel. Oli’s loyalist Shankar Pokharel is contesting the post of general secretary for a second term and is challenged by Surendra Pandey. Both Oli and Pokhrel have their respective panels of candidates for all posts.

“We expect mixed results,” two senior UML leaders said, adding that both Pokhrel and Pandey are mounting a very tough challenge to Oli’s side.

Oli’s rival, Ishwar, is backed by former President Bidya Devi Bhandari who is very influential in the party, with strongholds in Koshi, Bagmati and Sudurpaschim provinces, according to UML leaders. In the post of general secretary too, Pandey is a strong contender.

The Pokharel camp is upbeat after a “slow mutiny” in the Oli camp. Some senior leaders close to Oli revolted and later moved to the Pokhrel camp. That is why we expect a mixed result in office bearer positions as well as in the central committee, according to UML leaders.

Oli’s popularity took a hit after he led the UML-Congress government for more than a year since July last year, they argue. Critics say that his political decline accelerated after he denied party membership to former President Bhandari. The September Gen Z movement ousted him from state power three months ago.

The way he sought to squeeze his rivals in the UML, including Bhandari, Ishwar Pokhrel and their supporters while electing convention delegates from across the country, caused him more damage in the lead up to the ongoing 11th general convention, party insiders say.

Now, even leaders from his own faction have defied the list he prepared. Some have contested as independent candidates, while others have left his faction and aligned with Ishwar Pokhrel’s group instead.

The public no longer has the craze for Oli, especially after the Gen Z movement, observers and party insiders say. Within the UML, the number of those seeking an alternative to Oli and raising the issue of generational transition is increasing.

Though Oli is in a comfortable position, according to many UML leaders, there will be a tough contest for the post of general secretary between Shankar Pokhrel and Pandey.

The reasons given are that Shankar had an “average" performance as general secretary. Besides, he is unlikely to get the full support of the Oli camp, an Oli supporter said. Vice-chair Bishnu Paudel and deputy general secretary Pradeep Gyawali wanted to replace him but Oli did not agree.

That is why the result is expected to be mixed this time and both camps could be fairly happy with election results, they say.

According to the election commission, it takes a delegate around half an hour to vote due to the long list of candidates. The party has installed 80 EVMs at Bhrikutimandap for the leadership vote.

On Monday and Tuesday, thousands of UML leaders and cadres were assembled around the Bhrikutimandap area for the publicity of candidates. It is not a communist party's convention, a UML representative complained after seeing the flashy election publicity. “Where is all this money coming from?” he asked.

The streets leading to Bhrikutimandap were littered with pamphlets, posters, visiting cards, banners and other publicity materials. Candidates are also appealing for votes on social media and sending text messages on mobile phones.