Twist in NC Gandaki: Signs of rival candidate from Deuba faction
POKHARA: DEC. 2 – Until the 14th General Convention of the Nepali Congress, only Arjun Joshi was the candidate from the establishment party led by Gandaki. He started his election campaign by announcing his candidacy with the message that he was the sole candidate. There were 5 aspirants in the establishment. Devraj Chalise of Kaski, Shukraraj Sharma, Yagya Bahadur Thapa, Raghunath Wagle of Tanahun and Mahendra Dhwaj GC of Nawalpur are close to senior leader Ram Chandra Poudel.
After many aspirants, Poudel and General Secretary Dr. Shashank Koirala have come to Pokhara to meet. It is said that after continuous discussions and meetings, they have almost reached an agreement on a common candidate. According to sources, tickets are being given to one of Shukraraj Sharma and Devraj. Hari Krishna Shrestha and Kiran Babu Shrestha will be the vice-presidents, Krishna KC and Bishnu Lamichhane will be the general secretaries and Sarita Gurung and Kalpana Tiwari will be the joint general secretaries.
It seems that Krishna KC will be replaced by another candidate for the post of General Secretary. However, the candidature is not over. A leader of Poudel’s party said that the joint team will be announced by holding a budget press conference at 4 pm today.
On the other hand, there is a new twist on the establishment side. Manibhadra Sharma of Baglung has recently challenged the lone candidate Joshi. According to sources, he has been picked up by senior leader Krishna Sitaula’s party. Jeet Sherchan of the Sitaula faction has won the election for the president of Baglung. Now it is understood that it was Sherchan who instigated Sharma.
From the establishment faction, Mekh Lal Shrestha and Netra Mahat have been nominated for the post of vice-president, Ishwor Pandey and Kumar Khadka for the post of general secretary and Jhul Bahadur Ale, Rajan Raj Panta and Omkala Gautam for the post of joint general secretary. The names of the other members have not been released.
