- Gagan Thapa and Shyam Krishna Khadgi are the final candidates for the Nepali Congress presidency in the party's 15th General Convention.
- Bishwo Prakash Sharma and Pushpa Bhusal will be elected unopposed as senior vice president and women’s vice president, respectively.
- Competitive elections for multiple vice-president and general secretary posts will occur among numerous candidates across various categories.
- Voting is scheduled for Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Kathmandu’s Rastriya Sabha Griha and Tundikhel venues.
Kathmandu, Nepal: The Nepali Congress has published the final list of candidates for the election of its Central Working Committee under the party’s ongoing 15th General Convention.
The Central Election Committee published the final list after completing the process of examining claims and objections and accepting withdrawals on Ashoj 21.
Two candidates are contesting for the post of party president: Gagan Thapa and Shyam Krishna Khadgi.
The race for senior vice president has ended without a contest, with Bishwo Prakash Sharma the only candidate for the post. He will be elected unopposed.
There are seven candidates competing for two open vice-president positions. They are Govinda Bhattarai, Chandrakant Bhandari, Chandramohan Yadav, Deepak Giri, Dhanraj Gurung, Madhu Acharya and Surendra Raj Pandey.
The women’s vice-president position will also be filled without a contest. Pushpa Bhusal is the only candidate for the post and will be elected unopposed.
Five candidates are contesting for one vice-president position under the inclusive category. They are Jeevan Pariyar, Farmullah Mansur, Binod Chaudhary, Ranjit Karna and Sita Gurung.
The contest for general secretary is also competitive. Eight candidates are seeking two open general-secretary positions. They are Amar Singh Pun Magar, Uday Shumsher Rana, Gururaj Ghimire, Nainsingh Mahar, Pradip Paudel, Shankar Ghimire, Santosh Upadhyaya and Sunil Kumar Sharma.
Three candidates are competing for one women’s general-secretary position: Dila Sangraula (Pant), Mahalaxmi Upadhyaya (Dina) and Rita Khanal.
The distribution of candidates shows that competition is concentrated in the open positions, while some senior posts have been settled without a vote. Sharma’s unopposed election as senior vice president and Bhusal’s unopposed election as women’s vice president mean that delegates will have fewer choices for those two positions.
The presidential election, however, will be decided by a direct vote between Thapa and Khadgi. The results will also determine the composition of the party’s senior leadership, as delegates will vote separately for vice presidents and general secretaries.
The election of the Central Working Committee is equally important because the members elected to the committee will form the party’s main organisational decision-making body. The final composition will show how support is divided among the different groups and candidates within the party.
Voting is scheduled for Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The voting venues have been designated at Rastriya Sabha Griha and Tundikhel, with arrangements made according to the provinces.
With the final candidate list now published, candidates and their supporters have moved into the final phase of vote mobilisation. The main focus will be on the presidential contest and the closely fought races for vice president and general secretary, where the number of candidates is much higher than the available positions.
