Deuba, the dogged duo, and the deadlock

Kathmandu: A defiant Deuba. And the dogged duo.

That’s how the story unfolded in the Nepali Congress.

After the September Gen-Z protests, General Secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwo Prakash Sharma, in October, demanded a special convention — a call for change in both policy and leadership.

The establishment faction, led by party President Sher Bahadur Deuba, dismissed the idea outright.

The dispute escalated, culminating in a special convention, the closed session of which entered its second day on Tuesday.

On the first day, the closed session proposed the dissolution of the Deuba-led Central Working Committee (CWC), elected at the last convention in 2021.

The Deuba camp retaliated, with Vice President Purna Bahadur Khadka, who was appointed acting president in October, calling a meeting of the same CWC, which is now in the process of being dissolved, pending the proposal's endorsement.

With the country’s oldest party teetering on the brink of a split, both factions are scrambling to find a middle ground to “save” party unity.

Deuba has deputed Khadka, Balkrishna Khand, and Ramesh Lekhak to represent his faction, while Pradip Poudel and Gururaj Ghimire represent the Thapa-Sharma camp.

But questions have emerged: Should the pro-special convention faction be negotiating with Deuba’s camp, and what kind of “middle path” are they seeking?

It’s understandable from Deuba’s perspective. He doesn’t want to be unceremoniously ousted as party president — especially from a convention he opposed from the start.

But for the pro-special convention faction, the situation is clear: the Rubicon has been crossed, the die cast. Their only goal was to hold a special convention before the March 5 elections and effect a leadership change. Now that the convention is underway, it should end with the removal of the old guard, led by Deuba.

If the pro-special convention faction agrees to accept Deuba as the leader — for terms that remain unclear — it would vindicate Thapa’s critics, who’ve long argued that he lacks the spine to confront Deuba.

Historically, the Nepali Congress has been a divided house, with the president’s faction calling the shots, and opposition factions often being “managed” with some accommodation. The very fact that a special convention was held means the standoff had reached its peak — a point of no return. But now, the effort to reach a deal suggests that some trade-offs are on the table.

With the March elections less than two months away, and candidate nominations for the direct election system due on January 20, this may be central to the ongoing talks between the two factions.

The party has already submitted its list for proportional representation candidates to the Election Commission. Despite appointing Khadka as acting president, Deuba’s signature on the list signalled that he still maintained control over the party’s electoral strategy — something that prompted the Thapa-Sharma duo to push for the special convention.

As Congress stands divided, it faces a perilous path. If no resolution is found before the election, it could harm the party’s chances — even if it doesn’t formally split.

The question now is whether the Thapa-Sharma faction is ready to fully break with Deuba or if they will settle for some compromise.

Stakes are higher for the Thapa-Sharma duo, 49 and 55 years old, than for Deuba, a year shy of 80 and in his last term as party president. Both have faced charges of trading convenience over confrontation and seeking accommodation rather than contention— for which they apologised on the first day of the convention.

It has now become apparent that the infighting in Congress is not just about a battle between the two factions. If Thapa and Sharma truly believe they are the change agents and that they can effect change in national politics by reforming their party, they cannot afford to cave in to Deuba.

Any compromise with Deuba now could damage their reputation and turn the special convention from a success into a damp squib.