KATHMANDU: The central members of the Nepali Congress (NC) have come under criticism for their silence on key national issues.
During the ongoing central working committee meeting of the party, leaders showed little seriousness about issues of concern to the citizens, such as good governance and corruption control.
The meeting, held after a 10-month gap, has revealed increasing factionalism within the party. While some leaders spoke in favor of NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba, others defended General Secretary duo Gagan Kumar Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma. Although most of them praised the annual calendar proposed by General Secretary Thapa, no clear roadmap for its implementation was suggested.
Despite proudly asserting that the party is part of the ruling coalition and leads most provincial governments and local units, the leaders did not engage in discussing whether the governments were fulfilling people’s aspirations.
The NC has a strong presence in the federal government and local units and is leading four out of seven provincial governments.
Lack of consensus among leaders on decisions taken by the provinces was also evident during the central working committee meeting. Chief Minister of Koshi Province Government, Uddhav Thapa, and fellow committee member Keshav Budhathoki clashed over the formation of the Koshi Province Government, with Budhathoki questioning Thapa’s recognition as the chief minister.
Chief Minister of Gandaki, Surendraraj Pandey, and another central working committee member, Urmila Nepal KC, openly criticized General Secretary Thapa, who is advocating for a change in party leadership.
“Party leaders should not spread negative illusions about the party itself. After all, we are all in the same boat. If it sinks, we all will sink together,” Pandey said.
Similarly, KC said that the call for a leadership change is untimely. “We just held the general convention. We should allow the President to perform his responsibilities as per the party statute. He should be given time.”
Another committee member, Prakash Rasaili, questioned whether party leaders were working for the 86,000 party cadres of the party or for all the citizens of the country.
Likewise, central working committee member Rajiv Bikram Shah stated that he had become a victim of factionalism, despite emerging victorious in constituencies regarded as bastions of communists.
The most concerning aspect was that leaders, who did not utter a word about corruption and inflation, showed support for leaders involved in corruption.
