Nepali Congress has kicked off its March election campaign by swiftly distributing tickets, favouring new and youth faces, even as factional divisions and court challenges threaten to overshadow the process.

Following a special general convention convened by a majority of elected representatives of the general convention, the party remains deeply divided, making candidate selection for the March 5 elections a tricky exercise.

After Gagan Thapa was elected party president at the convention—which was boycotted by veteran leaders Sher Bahadur Deuba and Shekhar Koirala—the Thapa-led central working committee swiftly decided to form a parliamentary board to allocate election tickets.

This move followed the Election Commission’s formal recognition of the Thapa-led Congress and its update of the party’s official records, a decision the Deuba faction has challenged as illegitimate.

On Friday, the Deuba camp went to the Supreme Court with a petition against the Election Commission’s decision, further widening the rift between the Congress factions ahead of the crucial national elections. Both Deuba and Koirala factions fear that rapid developments in the party may leave many qualified leaders out of the electoral race.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the petition on Tuesday, the same day the Election Commission has fixed for filing first-past-the-post (FPTP) candidate nominations, which will close at 5 pm.

Amid these developments, Congress leaders from both Deuba and Koirala camps had reached out to Thapa and back-channel negotiations had started from Friday, according to party insiders.

“If the Deuba faction agrees to withdraw the writ petition from the Supreme Court, then we would accommodate both Deuba and Koirala,” said a leader from the Thapa camp. “Otherwise, we would allocate at least 20 percent of tickets to the Deuba and Koirala camps.”

Despite this, the Thapa-led official Congress moved quickly to distribute tickets without consulting Deuba and Koirala camps, said leaders from both camps. The unilateral distribution of tickets is expected to affect election results of the Congress, they said.

Nonetheless, leaders like Prakash Sharan Mahat, who is close to Deuba, and several others from the Deuba camp including Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, Bijay Kumar Gachhadar, Bimalendra Nidhi and NP Saud, have secured tickets for the March elections. Likewise, several leaders close to Koirala also secured tickets, said a leader close to Thapa.

A statement issued by Purna Bahadur Khadka, the former acting vice-president of the party and a Deuba aide, hinted at a possible truce in light of the March elections and uncertainty over the court’s verdict.

Khadka and another former vice president Dhanraj Gurung have both decided not to contest, though Deuba reportedly intends to contest election one last time.

Current vice-presidents Bishwa Prakash Sharma and Pushpa Bhusal, and several other senior leaders, have also chosen not to contest. Sharma will lead the party’s nationwide election campaign.

Although leaders from both Deuba and Koirala camps were not part of direct negotiations during candidate selection, representatives of the two leaders had handed over the lists of their preferred candidates to Thapa and his team.

“We have picked many new faces, and also accommodated candidates from all three sides,” a Thapa aide told the Post.

But Koirala’s private secretariat dismissed reports of an understanding with Thapa and said no discussion had occurred.

“As for the news claiming that there is an understanding between Dr Shekhar Koirala and Gagan Thapa to move forward together, there is no truth to it. To date, none of the members of the Central Committee that emerged from the special general convention has contacted or held any discussion with Koirala through any medium,” said Koirala’s private secretariat on Monday.

There is a similar situation in the Deuba camp. “I want to clarify to everyone that I have not participated in any meeting or process regarding the distribution of tickets for candidates in the 165 House of Representatives constituencies from the Nepali Congress, and I have no information about it,” said Khadka in a statement.

Tickets distributed so far

Koshi Province

Dhankuta – Dinesh Rai

Panchthar – Narendra Kerung

Taplejung – Gajendra Tumyahung

Tehrathum – Santosh Subba

Ilam 1 – Nishkal Rai

Ilam 2 – Bheshraj Acharya

Udayapur 1 – Vidur Basnet

Udayapur 2 – Ramkumar Rai

Morang 3 – Sunil Sharma

Khotang – Birkaji Rai

Okhaldhunga – Ramhari Khatiwada

Solukhumbu – Prakash Karki

Sunsari 3 – Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar

Sunsari 4– Gyanendra Bahadur Karki

Bhojpur – Balkrishna Thapa

Madhesh

Dhanusha 1 – Mukta Kumari Yadav

Dhanusha 3 – Bimalendra Nidhi

Bara 1 – Sambhu Budhathoki

Bara 2 – Bhaiya Ram Yadav

Bara 3 – Farmullah Mansur

Bara 4 – Shyam Babu Gupta

Parsa 1 – Anil Rungata

Parsa 2 – Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya

Parsa 3 – Surendra Chaudhary

Parsa 4 – Ramesh Rijal

Siraha 1 – Ram Sundar Chaudhary

Saptari 1 – Ramdev Shah

Saptari 2 – Ram Kumar Yadav

Saptari 3 – Dinesh Yadav

Saptari 4 – Tejulal Chaudhary

Bagmati

Nuwakot 1 – Prakash Sharan Mahat

Nuwakot 2 – Jagadish Nar Singh KC

Rasuwa – Mohan Acharaya

Kavreplanchowk 2 – Madhu Acharya

Dolakha – Ajay Babu Siwakoti

Sindhupalchok– Banshalal Tamang

Lalitpur 1 – Uday Sumsher Rana

Sindhuli 1 – Ujjwal Baral

Kathmandu 6 –Sabuj Baniya

Gandaki Province

Gorkha 1 – Prem Khatri

Gorkha 2 – Prakash Dawadi

Manang – Tek Bahadur Gurung

Mustang – Yogendra Gauchan

Baglung 1 – Bhim Srish

Baglung 2 – Tekraj Paudel

Myagdi – K.B. Bhandari

Syangja 1 – Bharat Dhakal

Syangja – 2 – Bhagawat Prakash Malla

Tanahu 1 – Shankar Bhandari

Tanahu 2 – Govinda Bhattarai

Lamjung– Gambahadur Gurung

Kaski 1 – Tilak Ranabhat

Kaski 2 – Madhav Prasad Bastola

Kaski 3 – Manoj Gurung

Parbat – Arjun Joshi

Manang – Tek Bahadur Gurung

Lumbini Province

Rolpa – Dr. Sudankumar Oli

Dang 1 – Yogendra Chaudhary

Eastern Rukum – Kusum Thapa Magar

Pyuthan – Dr. Govindraj Pokhrel

Dang 1 – Yogendra Chaudhary

Dang 2 - Krishna Kishor Ghimire

Dang 3– Dipak Giri

Gulmi 1 – Chandra Bhandari

Gulmi 2 – Bhuwan Shrestha

Palpa 1 – Sandeep Rana

Palpa 2 – Himal Datta Shrestha

Rupandehi 2 – Chunnu Prasad Poudel

Rupandehi 3 – Sushil Gurung

Nawalparasi 1 –Binod Chaudhary

Nawalparasi 2 —Devendra Kadel

Karnali Province

Dailekh 1 – Dikpal Shahi

Dailekh 2 – Basana Thapa

Kalikot – Harshabahadur Bam

Dolpa – Karnabahadur Shahi

Jumla – Deepbahadur Shahi

Humla – Jayapati Rokaya

Mugu – Ainbahadur Shahi

Salyan – Keshav Bista

Surkhet 2 – Narayan Koirala

Sudurpashchim Province

Achham 1 – Bharat Swar

Achham 2 – Pushpa Shah

Bajura – Janak Giri

Baitadi – Chaturbahadur Chand

Kailali 1– Janak Raj Chaudhary

Kailali 2 – Bijaya Swar

Kailali 3 – Bhim Baduwal

Kailali 4 – Bir Bahadur Balayar

Kailali 5 – Nara Narayan Shah

Kanchanpur 1 – Gopi Upadhyay Kanchanpur 2 – NP Saud

Darchula – Dharma Nanda Joshi

Bajura– Prakash Rasaili

Doti – Bharat Khadka