Thapa Set to Take Congress Oath Atop 297 Member Panel, Bigger Than Deuba's

Gagan Thapa is set to take the oath at 2pm today, Saturday, October 17, as president of the Nepali Congress, at the party's central office in Sanepa, Lalitpur, on the Dashain festival day of Fulpati, Nepal Press and DC Nepal reported. He won the post by a landslide, the party's election committee said. He took 6,584 votes against 375 for his only remaining rival, Shyam Krishna Khadgi, who stayed in the race after Kishor Singh Rathore withdrew at Thapa's request, OnlineKhabar English reported. That was out of 7,039 votes cast for president, OnlineKhabar reported.

The presidential count was announced the morning after the October 9 vote, but counting for the rest of the party's central committee posts ran a full week, finishing Friday morning, October 16, election committee member secretary Raju Katuwal told Setopati and DC Nepal. OnlineKhabar put the total number of members elected at 231, while Setopati put the number of posts contested at 229. Workers counted close to 162,000 ballots cast by 7,392 voters in about 25 teams working day and night, he said. Katuwal said the 14th convention took 12 days to count 4,700 voters' ballots, and claimed this count ran more than twice as fast.

Leaders told Setopati and DC Nepal that the new committee's first meeting after Dashain will draw up the party's plan for the next local elections.

Bishwa Prakash Sharma was unanimously elected senior vice president, a new post created this year, The Kathmandu Post reported, and he ran unopposed, OnlineKhabar English reported. Pushpa Bhusal was also unanimously elected, to the vice presidency reserved for women, OnlineKhabar English reported. In the open category, Chandra Kanta Bhandari took 3,735 votes and Madhu Acharya 2,342. Binod Kumar Chaudhary, the businessman behind Wai Wai noodles and Nepal's only billionaire by Forbes' count, Billionaires.Africa reported, won the vice presidency reserved for the inclusive category by 87 votes, with 1,745 against 1,658 for Jeevan Pariyar, OnlineKhabar English reported.

Pradeep Paudel, with 4,194 votes, and Udaya Shamsher Rana, with 2,310, were elected general secretaries in the open category. Dila Sangraula Pant won the seat reserved for women with 3,118 votes, becoming the first woman elected general secretary in the party's history, OnlineKhabar English reported. She beat Mahalakshmi Upadhyay by 254 votes. Upadhyay had rejoined the party mainstream on September 18 after leaving the faction led by former president Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Thapa's oath on Saturday is his alone. The remaining office bearers and committee members take theirs after Dashain, when the new working committee holds its first meeting, Nepal Press and DC Nepal reported.

What the coverage missed

In 2021, as general secretary, Thapa accused then president Sher Bahadur Deuba of expanding office bearer posts to accommodate his own faction, The Kathmandu Post reported. Five years later, as president himself, Thapa has overseen a far larger expansion, taking the Central Working Committee from a base OnlineKhabar English put at 164 members, or 167 by The Kathmandu Post's count, up to 297, with office bearer posts rising from 14 to 26. Political analyst Saugat Gautam told OnlineKhabar English that simply making the committee larger does not automatically strengthen representation and inclusion. Thapa's political adviser Pratap Paudel told The Kathmandu Post the enlarged committee was meant to expand representation and access rather than manage factions.

Saturday's oath is not Thapa's first for this post. He first became president through a special convention in January, The Kathmandu Post and Billionaires.Africa reported. He won the presidency again this month through the party's regular 15th general convention.

The party remains split, Billionaires.Africa reported. A faction loyal to Deuba, estimated at about a fifth of the party's strength, has disputed the legitimacy of the Thapa led leadership and was organising its own convention for December 7 to 9, Billionaires.Africa reported. A Supreme Court review of whether the Thapa led central committee is even legitimate was still pending as of August, The Kathmandu Post reported.

What we still do not know

• Whether the Supreme Court review Deuba and Purna Bahadur Khadka sought is still pending, a question for the court.
• What running a nearly doubled, 297 member committee will cost the party, a question for its own finance office.