Himal Press 
POKHARA: Two factions are contesting the election for the Pokhara Metropolitan City Committee of the CPN-UML, laying bare the party’s deep-running factionalism in Gandaki Province.
Jivan Prasad Acharya and Deepak Paudel have registered their candidacies for the position of chairperson of the committee. Acharya is the incumbent secretary of the committee, while Paudel was denied a ticket to contest the election for the position of mayor of Pokhara Metropolitan.
UML’s Deputy General Secretary Prithvi Subba Gurung and Standing Committee Member Khaga Raj Adhikari lead two party factions in Gandaki Province. Panels of these two leaders contested the election for the provincial committee as well as the district committees. The rivalry has now spilled over to the local unit level.
Chairperson aspirant Paudel is close to Gurung. Mohan Gurung, Dinesh Babu Khadka, Lal Bahadur Rana, and Kiran Gautam are contesting for the positions of vice chairperson, secretary, deputy secretary (open), and deputy secretary (women), respectively.
Acharya, on the other hand, is from Adhikari’s panel. Narendra Nath Dhungana, Sushil Basnet, Bishnu Prasad Gautam, and Hari Maya Bishwokarma are contesting for the positions of vice chairperson, secretary, deputy secretary (open), and deputy secretary (female), respectively.
Balram Giri has also filed a candidacy for the position of deputy secretary (open).
A total of 96 members will be elected to the executive committee. A total of 228 have filed their nominations for all positions, according to Election Officer Advocate Madan Prasad Tiwari.
A total of 500 members affiliated with the Pokhara Metropolitan City Committee of the party are participating in the voting to be held on Monday.
While the Gurung-led panel won the provincial committee election, Adhikari’s panel was victorious in the Kaski District Committee election held last year.
