5 January, Kathmandu. In Nepali Congress, it is common to raise questions about the working style and efficiency of the chairman. All the presidents have been accused of breaking the law and system.
Chairman Sher Bahadur Deuba is experiencing the shame of losing power despite becoming a big party. Questions have been raised about his decision-making ability. However, the leaders of his party have gradually started opening up in defense of the chairman. According to the founding party, the chairman is not the only partner of Apjas in the loss of power.
The establishment party has made new preparations to defend the chairman. In the central committee meeting to be held on December 28, the establishment side is planning to defend the chairman by raising questions about the efficiency of the two general ministers, Gagan Thapa and Vishwaprakash Sharma.
‘Why didn’t you intervene?’
The leaders of the Deuba party have already started discussing how they will be presented at the central committee meeting. The provincial meeting of the central members of the Deuba Party has started on Wednesday.
A meeting of central members of the Deuba Party was held in Province 1 on Wednesday. According to one of the leaders who participated in the meeting, the issue of non-cooperation of the Chief Minister to the Chairman was raised.
“There has been opposition to the statements made by two general ministers on Pus 16”, says the central member of the Deuba side, “who could have gathered the factions at other times, when the alliance was about to break up, why couldn’t they hold a gathering of the factions and put pressure on the chairman?”
In the power given to the Chief Minister by the law, it is mentioned that ‘to provide support to the Chairman for the daily operations and to give information and suggestions to the Chairman on important matters’. According to the leaders of the founding party, the Chief Minister has not provided support to the President in accordance with this provision of the law.
Joint General Minister Mahendra Yadav says that the non-cooperation of the General Minister was also the reason for the exit of the Congress from the government. Yadav from the Deuba side said, ‘Other leaders went to Baluwatar and suggested advice. Why didn’t they also go and give suggestions?’
Chief Minister Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma did not invite them to the meeting of the ruling coalition. The argument of the General Minister, who only goes to the meeting when he is called, and if he knew the condition of the alliance, why did he not play an interventionist role is now a matter of contention within the party.
General Minister Gagan Thapa has been arguing that if he was also included in the meeting, alternatives would be discussed and the party would have to suffer losses. Thapa says that he has been waiting for the chairman’s call all day.
Another General Minister Bishwaprakash Sharma insists that he went to Pokhara only after Prachanda became the Prime Minister with the help of UML. I reached Pokhara on the 11th. I went to Pokhara only after it was decided to form a new government in Kathmandu,’ said Sharma.
Others have understood the establishment as Chairman Deuba’s attack on the Chief Minister. “You cannot go to the Prime Minister’s residence without being called,” Arjunnar Singh KC, a leader of the establishment, says, “Is it a party office? Can you go even if you don’t call?’
The establishment party was confident till the end that the new government would be formed by the coalition party. It was confirmed by the spokesperson Dr. Prakasharan Mahat. He said in a press conference held at the party office on Wednesday that he had confidence in the leadership and did not have to go to alternatives, but the Maoists betrayed him at the last moment.
“If the Maoists had been given the leadership of the government, there would have been people who would have strongly opposed it,” Mahat said. Mahat’s bid was aimed at other institutions.
Responsibilities of the Lathaling Fraternal Society
According to the constitution of the Congress, the role of the Chief Minister is to implement the decisions made at the central level. However, there is a tradition that decisions are not implemented. The decision to complete the fraternal organization has been made twice by the Central Committee. Last February, the central leadership of 10 fraternal organizations was dissolved. In the meantime, Deuba has nominated only the original leadership of five fraternal organizations.
Dujang Sherpa in Navy Sangh, scholar Gurung in Tarun Dal, Ganesh Timilsina in Kisan Sangh, Usha Raut in Women’s Sangh and Om Bahadur Ghartimagar in Tribal Tribes Sangh have been nominated as the president.
Even though the chairman has been appointed, these committees have not been able to achieve fullness. The original leadership of the Democracy Fighters Association, Democratic Disabled Association, Tamang Association, Thakur Samaj, Ex-Servicemen Association and others have not been nominated.
The other party believes that the president is the main reason for the fraternal organization not achieving perfection. A leader of the Shekhar-Gagan side says, ‘They say give the names of 2/4 people on your behalf. How can you agree by asking for a name like Hepe?’ The other side of the organization claims that since the last signatory is Chairman Deuba, the decision could not be implemented despite the wishes of the General Minister.
When two general ministers were elected from the youth, there was an expectation in the Congress that fraternal and benevolent organizations would operate legally. Fraternal organizations that could not hold regular sessions were dissolved by the force of two general ministers. Age limit of 32 years was fixed in the Navy. The Chief Minister is responsible for implementing the decision. This is the situation of the fraternal organization when he is the general minister who has been doing the politics of the Navy Union, says the leader of the Deuba party.
The main responsibility of making the organizational structure of the party functional and effective rests with the General Minister. There is a concern within the party that although the fraternal and benevolent organizations which are the components that make the party dynamic are inactive, the Congress is not dynamic.
According to General Minister Thapa, some issues have been stuck without being implemented because the party constitution has given all decision-making powers to the president. He narrated the difficulty of not being able to fully mobilize the subordinate working committee due to lack of statutory work.
‘First we corresponded to complete the committee below. Now they asked questions. There has been a situation from below saying that the central committee should be completed first,’ said Thapa.
‘There was no discretion to approve the decision’
There is a complaint within the party that the Chief Minister did not take action to get the decisions made by the Performance Committee approved by the Central Committee. Decisions such as distribution of shares in the coalition, determination of seats, distribution of tickets, formation of a government under their own leadership were made by the performance committee.
The decision of the performance committee was not approved by the central committee. The legitimacy of the alliance was not confirmed’, central member Nainsingh Mahar says, ‘this matter will also be raised in the central committee.’
During the election, the most dissatisfaction with the two general ministers of the Deuba party was seen in the fact that the two general ministers asked each other for votes. The argument of the establishment side is that since the Chief Minister is not a person but an organization, they should not ask for votes only from each other.
‘Gagan asked Vishwa and Vishwa only for Gagan. Has he contested only two elections from the Congress?’ A leader from the Deuba side says, ‘He behaved as if only two people would win from the Congress. There was no institutional system. Central members are looking for an explanation for this.’
The issue of distribution of tickets without forming a parliamentary ward as per the law is also being raised against the Chief Minister. However, according to the statute, the 25-member board has the right to distribute tickets. Tickets were distributed without forming a board in Congress.
Apart from the officials, it was decided to keep one more person, Ramchandra Poudel, to distribute the tickets. Some leaders near Deuba were also made to participate in the distribution of tickets for the representative and state assembly. There is a preparation to raise the issue that the two chief ministers have not played a significant role in forming a parliamentary board according to the statute.
‘Responsibility for decreased votes’
Although the Congress’s seats have increased directly, the votes have fallen proportionally this time. The leaders of the establishment side say that they should also take responsibility for the proportional decrease of votes even when they are the general ministers of the younger generation.
Congress got 27 lakh 15 thousand 225 votes this time towards the House of Representatives. In the year 2074, the Congress won 23 seats directly and got 31 lakh 28 thousand 389 votes on the proportional side. Proportionately, Congress has lost 8 seats this time.
Even with a young face as the Chief Minister, the votes of the Congress have decreased. The general ministers could not explain that there is an alternative leadership. Faith is not seen in the awakened voters,’ says the leader of the Deuba party.
There are preparations to raise questions on the statements of the two General Ministers on 16th December. The General Minister demanded that ‘the work of deciding the policy plan and program of the party should be held without delay’. The people at the implementation level say that it is wrong to issue a statement and demand a policy convention, the leaders of the establishment side.
One of them, former vice-chairman Bimalendra Nidhi, says, ‘No official should issue such a statement without taking the permission of the party chairman.’ He says that it is wrong to make a statement about meeting the party chairman.
Likewise, where did the Chief Minister make a mistake with the statement that ‘Policy Convention should be held without delay’? Leaders of other organizations say that It has been said that we will hold a policy convention. Where is the request made to the chairman to hold a policy conference?’ A leader near the sky-world says.
There is a provision in the statute that the central office is subordinate to the General Minister. The Chief Minister has the authority to supervise and operate the central office. The establishment side says that the office is not operating effectively. On the other hand, the leaders of other organizations say that the Chief Minister has not been able to use the right to operate the office.
