Nepali Congress (NC) has reached an agreement to elect Bhishma Raj Angdembe as its Parliamentary Party (PP) leader.
A committee chaired by Vice President Bishwa Prakash Sharma has reached a consensus on Angdembe for the role of Parliamentary Party (PP) leader. According to an office-bearer, Angdembe’s election was unanimous after former Joint General Secretary Arjun Narasingha KC withdrew his bid for the position.
Along with KC, MPs Mohan Acharya, Basna Thapa, Nishcal Rai, Firdosh Alam and Chandra Mohan Yadav had laid claim to the position of the PP leader.
Angdembe is the party's former Joint General Secretary and a proportional representation MP. President Gagan Thapa presented Angdembe's name for unanimous approval at the Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting held today.
Following the approval by the CWC, a party meeting held at the NC Parliamentary Party office at 1 pm officially elected Angdembe as the PP leader informed NC's Acting Chief Secretary Krishna Prasad Dulal.
After all the top leaders, including President Thapa, were defeated in the House of Representatives election on March 5, proportional representation MP Angdembe got the opportunity to become the PP leader. Angdembe was elected as the joint general secretary from the outgoing President Sher Bahadur Deuba's faction in the 14th General Convention of Nepali Congress. He was also against the special general convention held on January 11-14.
He maintained a neutral stance after the March 5 House of Representatives election. Angdembe was absent from the program organized by the Deuba-Shekhar Koirala group at Smart Hotel in Dhumbarahi to congratulate the newly elected MPs. Angdembe was also not seen at the meeting of the outgoing CWC members elected through the 14th General Convention held at the same hotel.
Angdembe, who has been at odds with the Deuba and Thapa factions, had clearly stood in favor of Thapa through parliament. Only on Saturday, Angdembe had urged the group not to be labeled as such, saying that he was moving forward in accordance with the spirit of President Thapa.
Angdembe, who was elected from the then Panchthar-2 in the 2070 BS Constituent Assembly elections, became the chairman of the Industry and Commerce and Labor and Consumer Interest Committee of the parliament. Angdembe's grandfather, Deuman Angdembe, became the Vice Minister for Finance and Land Revenue under the premiership of Tanka Prasad Acharya on February5, 1957. Deuman got the opportunity to become the first minister from the Limbu community.
Leaders say that Bhima Raj Angdembe is certain to get the opportunity to become the PP leader from the Limbu community in Nepali Congress, which has a history of seven decades.
.
