Congress heads into leadership vote with expanded central committee

The Nepali Congress is heading into the final stage of its 15th General Convention with a three-way contest for the presidency, crowded races for senior party positions and a substantially expanded Central Working Committee (CWC).

A total of 818 candidates have filed nominations for the new leadership, according to the preliminary list published by the Central Election Committee on October 7. Of them, 79 are contesting 20 elected office-bearer positions, while 739 have filed for Central Working Committee membership. The list remains subject to claims, objections and withdrawals before the Election Committee publishes the final list.

The election is scheduled to begin at 7 AM on October 8, with 7,114 delegates eligible to vote.

The presidency is being contested by incumbent Gagan Kumar Thapa, former joint general secretary Kishor Singh Rathore and former regional president Shyam Krishna Khadgi.

Thapa, who became party president through the second special general convention earlier this year, is seeking a fresh mandate at the regular convention.

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The contest comes as Congress adopts a significantly different organisational structure, expanding both the number of central committee members and senior leadership positions.

A larger central leadership

The convention has expanded the CWC from 167 to 297 members, making it the largest central committee in the party’s history.

Of the 297 members, 211 will be elected by the general convention, and 66 will be nominated by the party president. The revised structure also sets aside 21 CWC seats for leaders below 35, with three such representatives from each of the seven provinces.

The number of office-bearers has also increased substantially from the previous structure.

The new arrangement has 25 office-bearer positions: one president, five vice-presidents including a senior vice-president, three general secretaries and 15 joint general secretaries, alongside a treasurer. Of the 15 joint general-secretary positions, 11 are elected, and four are to be nominated by the president. The treasurer will also be nominated from among CWC members.

The 20 elected positions have attracted 79 candidates.

Three-way presidential race

The presidential contest is the most closely watched race at the convention.

Gagan Thapa, Kishor Singh Rathore and Shyam Krishna Khadgi have filed nominations.

Thapa entered the race as the incumbent party president. Rathore, a former joint general secretary, has also previously been associated with the party’s establishment faction. Khadgi has entered the contest independently.

The three-way race contrasts with the contests for several other senior positions, where some candidates have been elected unopposed or face relatively small fields.

Sharma, Bhusal unopposed

Bishwo Prakash Sharma is the sole candidate for senior vice-president. Pushpa Bhusal is the sole candidate for the women’s vice-president position.

According to the list published in the early hours of October 7, the two open vice-president positions have attracted nine candidates: Chandra Bhandari, Devraj Chalise, Surendra Raj Pandey, Madhu Acharya, Minendra Rijal, Deepak Giri, Dhanraj Gurung, Govinda Bhattarai and Chandra Mohan Yadav.

Five candidates are contesting the other inclusive vice-president position: Jeevan Pariyar, Binod Chaudhary, Farmullah Mansoor, Sita Gurung and Ranjit Karna.

Thus, while the presidential race has three candidates, four of the five vice-presidential positions have contests of varying size and one senior vice-president and one women's vice-president position have single candidates.

General-secretary race

The party’s revised statute provides for three general secretaries, including one position reserved for women.

Eight candidates are contesting the two open positions: Pradip Poudel, Gururaj Ghimire, Udaya Shumsher Rana, Amarsingh Pun, Nainsingh Mahar, Shankar Tiwari, Sunil Sharma and Santosh Upadhyay.

Three women are contesting the women’s general-secretary position: Dila Sangraula, Rita Khanal and Mahalakshmi Upadhyay 'Dina'.

The race includes several figures who have held senior positions in the party’s existing structure, as well as leaders who have emerged through the organisational changes of the past year.

Inclusion reshapes joint-secretary contest

The largest number of newly elected office-bearer positions are at the level of joint general secretary.

The revised structure provides for 11 elected joint general secretaries: two open positions and one each from nine categories covering women, Indigenous nationalities, Dalits, Madhesis, Khas-Arya, Tharus, Muslims, backward regions and minorities/persons with disabilities.

A total of 49 candidates are contesting these 11 positions.

The two open positions have 10 candidates, while the women’s category has two.

The Indigenous nationalities category has five candidates, the Dalit category four, the Madhesi category eight, Khas-Arya three, Tharu three, Muslim three, backward region seven and minority/persons-with-disabilities four.

The category-based arrangement is one of the clearest changes introduced through the amended party statute. Rather than leaving inclusion primarily to the broader CWC election, the new structure builds representation directly into senior office-bearing positions.

739 candidates for CWC

The largest contest is for the CWC.

739 candidates have filed nominations for CWC membership, with 92 candidates competing for 45 open-category seats alone.

The 297-member committee includes open and inclusive categories as well as representation for provinces, youth, overseas Nepali Congress organisations, professionals, workers and other groups.

The statute provides for dedicated representation of women, Indigenous nationalities, Dalits, Madhesis, Khas-Arya, Tharus, Muslims, backward regions and minorities/persons with disabilities. It also includes specific seats for leaders below 35.

The expansion means the convention is not merely choosing a new president and a small group of office-bearers. It is simultaneously reshaping the composition of the central decision-making body.

Policy agenda awaits endorsement

The leadership election comes as the convention completes its closed-session business.

The closed session is scheduled to endorse four reports presented by the party president, vice-presidents, general secretaries and treasurer before the election becomes the convention’s remaining major task.

Thapa’s political report proposes a broader political and organisational reset, including limits on prime-ministerial terms, electoral reforms, voting rights for Nepalis abroad, stronger financial discipline within political parties and a production-led economic model.

The organisational report and amended statute, meanwhile, have already produced the most concrete institutional changes: a larger CWC, more office-bearer positions and more category-based representation.

Who is contesting?