Nepal Students’ Union is likely to publish its much-debated list of representatives by Saturday morning, clearing the way for filing official candidacies and holding elections within a couple of days.

A committee formed under Nepali Congress leader Prakash Sharan Mahat on Thursday night finally settled the dispute regarding representatives from 11 districts, said UP Lamichhane, the NSU spokesperson. This had prevented the student union from going ahead with its conclave for the past couple of days.

Despite the inauguration of the 11th general convention of the largest party’s sister wing on Sunday, the three-day jamboree got into a cloud of uncertainty after the NSU failed to conduct its closed door session on Monday owing to the reservations of a few factions over the representatives.

NC leader Gururaj Ghimire confirmed that the dispute was settled and that they were in the process of holding the elections.

“We will send the list of voters to the election committee by Saturday and have the list published the same day. We might also announce the list of official candidates on Saturday with a view to holding the vote by Sunday,” Ghimire, also a member of the committee, told the Post. “If not, things could be pushed a day or two further but we are determined to hold the polls at any cost.”

With the disputes settled, all eyes are on possible candidates for the NSU presidency. As in the mother party, the NSU also has three factions—the establishment, another led by Ram Chandra Poudel and the third close to Krishna Sitaula. From the establishment, Nain Singh Mahar is most likely to be given the slot even as Jit Jung Basent claims to be the official candidate.

“Mahar, who is also from Sher Bahadur Deuba’s hometown Dadeldhura, is more popular and looks all set to be handed the poll ticket from the camp,” said a party leader on condition of anonymity.

On Poudel’s side, Manoj Acharya, Deepak Bhattarai and Nilkantha Rijal are said to be the frontrunners. Acharya is highly likely to stand for presidency while Bhattarai and Rijal would possibly be settled in the union’s general secretary posts.

The third faction led by Kundan Kafle, which staged a relay hunger strike for the past 10 days and finally broke the fast on Wednesday after reaching an agreement in dividing the representatives from the 11 disputed districts, is also in the fray.

However, sources say that the establishment is “trying its best to accommodate him in their panel”.