Nepali Congress leader Shekhar Koirala has started rendering efforts to become a senior leader of the party. He is trying to become the president in the upcoming general convention by wooing President Sher Bahadur Deuba and maintaining closeness with General Secretary Gagan Thapa.
He was defeated by Sher Bahadur Deuba in the 14th General Convention of the party held on December 10, 2021. The election had been held between Deuba and Shekhar-Gagan Thapa panel.
When Gagan was elected as the General Secretary, Shekhar, who lost the elections to Deuba, was nominated as a central working committee member. There are 13 incumbent office-bearers and six former office-bearers senior to him, hence, being ranked as 20th in the party.
After the convention, the leaders and cadres close to him advised him to prepare for the Congress leadership. Accordingly, he started trying to become a senior leader.
It is not so easy to get leadership in the Congress. Elections are hard to win. There is a possibility that the convention will not be held on time. Against this backdrop, Shekhar has shown interest in the modus operandi practiced by late Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala.
The party statute does not lay down the provision of 'senior leader', but after the merger between the Nepali Congress and the Congress Democratic Party in 2064, this position was brought into practice.
After unity, Girija became the President. When Sher Bahadur Deuba said he would not sit as the acting president or vice president of the parety, Girija appointed Deuba as the senior leader, Min Bishwakarma, chief of the publicity department, told Nepalkhabar.
Now in the Congress, contemporary leaders of the president are called senior leaders while this title should have been given to the defeated leader in the presidency.
Sher Bahadur became a senior leader when Girija was appointed as the president. Ramchandra Paudel became a senior leader when Deuba was the president. This is what Shekhar wants too. Although Shekhar lost the election to the presidency, he did not become a senior leader.
After Ramchandra Paudel supported Deuba in the 14th General Convention, he was made a senior leader. After being appointed as the president of Nepal on March 9, he resigned from all the posts of the Congress. Now the position of senior leader in the Congress is lying vacant.
Although there is no provision for this post in the statute, Koirala believes that this will pave the way for leadership tomorrow.
"I don't know how the president will take it. However, Shekhar Dai should be made a senior leader. It will send a good message across the party rank and file," MP and central member Sanjay Gautam told Nepalkhabar. "He is the contestant for the president."
However, Shekhar understands that Deuba does not make him a senior leader easily.
Recently Koirala has become close to Deuba. Even when ministers were chosen in the Prachanda-led government, they shared their share together.
Leaders say that Deuba can make Koirala a senior leader immediately if he wants. Because Deuba is in the majority in both the parliamentary party and the central committee.
"Since he is the main competitor of the president, the question of what to do has been raised. If the matter is raised in the central committee meeting, it will be solved," said Min Bishwakarma, the head of the publicity department, adding, "The CWC can also resolve this issue." However, since it is not in the statute, how can it be solved?
The Congress policy convention can decide on senior leaders. The date of the policy convention has not been fixed yet.
"If the pressure increases, such a thing may be raised towards the policy convention, then a decision will be taken," Bishwakarma said.
Alliance with Gagan will remain intact
Shekhar and Gagan, who contested from the same panel in the 14th General Convention, the distance between these two leaders is being analyzed as widening. Some leaders of the Koirala-Gagan faction have started criticizing Shekhar for being close to Deuba. However, MP Gautam says that is not true.
"They are trying to break the understanding between us. We will not allow any ups and downs in the Shekhar-Gagan alliance until the 15th General Convention," says Gautam, "The future rests with Gagan. If we remain intact, we will become the president. We are united."
Gautam says that Gagan will support Shekhar and also support him for the presidency if the opportunity for the Prime Minister comes with the formation of a new alliance.
Shekhar aspires to become the president in the 15th General Convention, which is why he is now trying to woo Deuba while maintaining closeness with Gagan, analysts say.
The 15th General Convention of the Congress should be held within the next two years. If not in time, it will be held by 2083 BS.
A new generation has begun to dominate Nepali politics. There is more pressure on Congress to hand over leadership to the new generation. That is why he is trying to take over the leadership from Deuba with the support of Gagan Thapa who represents the new generation.
