Nepal PM Deuba faces stiff challenge from Thapa for Nepali Congress parliamentary party leader post

Kathmandu, Dec 20 (PTI) Nepal Prime Minister and the ruling Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba will face-off against General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa for the post of its parliamentary party (PP) leader election on Wednesday, party officials said.

The election assumes considerable political significance as the PP leader could possibly lead the next government after the Nepali Congress emerged as the single-largest party in the general elections held on November 20.

The party has won 89 seats — 57 in the first past the post-election system and 32 in the proportional representation election system — in the House of Representatives in the recently-concluded general elections.

The three-member election committee comprising Joint General Secretary Bishma Raj Angdembe as coordinator and central members Pushpa Bhusal and Prakash Rasaili Snehi’ as members were formed in the meeting of the Nepali Congress Central Working Committee on Sunday to elect the PP leader on December 21.

Senior party leader Ram Chandra Paudel proposed Deuba’s nomination and was seconded by Purna Bahadur Khadka.

Dr Shekhar Koirala proposed General Secretary Thapa’s nomination, which was supported by Bishwa Prakash Sharma, Pradeep Paudel and Dhanraj Gurung.
Parliamentary party elections will be held on Wednesday from 8 am to 10 am, according to My Republica newspaper.

As per the statutes of the Nepali Congress, one should get 51 per cent of votes to be elected PP leader of the party.

Although Thapa, 45, is popular among the youth cadres of the party, Deuba, 76, commands majority support across party lines, sources said.

Meanwhile, the oath-taking ceremony of newly elected members of the House of Representatives (HoR) in the general election will be held on December 22, sources in the parliamentary secretariat said on Monday.

In the 275-member House of Representatives, 165 were elected through direct voting, while the remaining 110 were elected through the proportional electoral system.
Elections to the HoR and seven provincial assemblies were held to end the prolonged political instability that has plagued the Himalayan nation.