Kathmandu, October 7
The fourth day of the Nepali Congress’ 15th General Convention is underway today. The process of filing claims and objections against candidates is ongoing, while preparations for the closed session are also underway.
The closed session is scheduled to endorse the reports and proceed with the remaining stages of the election process. Voting is scheduled for tomorrow.
Candidates and delegates are seeking votes in their own ways. Some candidates have used robots, while others have used masks and chimpanzee figures as part of their election campaigns.
The general convention will elect 24 office-bearers, including one president, one senior vice president, four vice presidents, three general secretaries, 15 joint general secretaries and one treasurer.
The party statute provides for four joint general secretaries and one treasurer to be nominated by the president. Accordingly, 19 office-bearers will be elected.
According to the list published by the Election Committee, 79 candidates have filed nominations for the 19 elected positions. Three candidates have filed nominations for president: incumbent president Gagan Thapa, former joint general secretary Kishor Singh Rathore and Shyam Krishna Khadgi.
The party statute provides for one senior vice president, one woman vice president under the inclusive category and two vice presidents under the open category. Bishwa Prakash Sharma has filed an uncontested nomination for senior vice president, while Pushpa Bhusal has filed an uncontested nomination under the women’s category. Both Sharma and Bhusal are currently serving as vice presidents.
