Although the Nepali Congress has already made an institutional decision to participate in the elections scheduled for 21 Falgun, the party’s establishment faction is intensifying efforts in favor of reinstating the House of Representatives. Party President Sher Bahadur Deuba and leaders close to him are firmly advocating for reinstatement.
Leaders from the establishment believe that if the House is reinstated, it would be easier to postpone the party’s 15th General Convention and manage internal disputes. In line with this strategy, signatures of former lawmakers are currently being collected, while dialogue is also underway with smaller parties to bring them on board in support of reinstatement.
However, party General Secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma, along with other leaders, argue that the party should not backtrack from its official decision and must move forward toward elections. A Central Committee meeting held from 28 Ashoj to 15 Mangsir had concluded that elections were the most appropriate way out of the current political deadlock and decided to participate in them.
Contrary to that decision, some leaders including former Chief Whip Shyam Kumar Ghimire filed a writ petition at the Supreme Court on 21 Mangsir, demanding reinstatement of the House of Representatives.
After the Gen-Z movement, a new government was formed and the House was dissolved on 27 Bhadra. At that time, leaders including General Secretary Thapa welcomed going for a fresh mandate, while leaders aligned with Deuba began collecting signatures for reinstatement. The signature drive was later halted due to internal opposition within the party.
The CPN-UML has already taken an institutional decision and filed a writ petition seeking reinstatement of the House. Recently, both Congress and UML have been preparing to submit a supplementary petition with signatures from a majority of former lawmakers.
UML has 79 and Congress 88 former lawmakers, making a total of 167 signatures. In a 275-member House, 138 signatures are required for a majority. Even if lawmakers loyal to General Secretaries Thapa and Sharma refuse to sign, both parties are attempting to secure a majority by including other political parties. In this context, former chief whips of Congress and UML, Shyam Kumar Ghimire and Mahesh Bartoula, have also held discussions.
Within the party, it is widely commented that Deuba is pushing for reinstatement with the hope of becoming prime minister again if the House is restored, as the largest party would get the opportunity to lead the next government. With upcoming elections expected to be challenging for traditional parties after the Gen-Z movement and with alternative forces preparing to unite, Deuba is believed to be trying to retain power for some time through reinstatement.
Meanwhile, Deuba remains actively involved in party affairs. Although Purna Bahadur Khadka has been given the role of acting president, Deuba himself has been active in matters ranging from fixing the convention date to managing internal party activities. He has also held meetings with UML Chair KP Sharma Oli and taken initiatives to resolve party disputes.
On Saturday as well, Deuba held discussions with Acting President Khadka, Vice President Dhanraj Gurung, and General Secretaries Thapa and Sharma on issues related to the general convention, internal party life, and national politics.
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