National Convention: Voting for central office members ongoing

Voting for the central office bearers and members of the 14th General Convention of the Nepali Congress is being held from 8 am today. According to the party's Central Election Committee, 487 candidates are vying for 134 seats. As per the Congress constitution, 134 out of 167 working committees will be elected and the remaining 33 members will be nominated by the central chairperson.

The committee, which published the final list of candidates on Sunday afternoon, has stated that it has made all preparations for the polling by printing ballot papers overnight. Polling stations have been set up at three places for polling. Committee member Egraj Pokharel informed that polling stations have been set up at three places to facilitate the polling due to the large number of voters.

Arrangements have been made for voting for the party's central working committee, public relations committee, fraternal organizations, Karnali and Lumbini general convention delegates in the National Assembly hall of the convention venue. Similarly, arrangements have been made for the voters of Province No. 2 and Gandaki to cast their votes in the premises of Bhrikuti Mandap. He said that arrangements have been made in the hall of Bhrikuti Mandap for voting for the delegates of the General Convention of Province No. 1, Bagmati and Far Western Province.

Arrangements have been made for 2,100 and 1,300 voters in two places of Bhrikuti Mandap and 1,300 voters in the National Assembly Hall. Hundreds of booths have been set up in the National Assembly Hall, Bhrikuti Mandap Premises and Bhrikuti Mandap Hall. The total number of delegates in this General Convention is 4,743.

Initially, it was said that there would be 29 types of ballot papers according to all the posts and clusters. Separate ballot boxes have been provided for all ballot papers. Although the election schedule states that polling will be held from 8 am to 5 pm, the committee estimates that polling will be completed by 8 pm.

The counting of votes for the post of chairperson will take place after the end of voting. If the second round of election for the post of chairperson is to be held, it will be held immediately at the National Assembly Hall, Bhrikuti Mandap and additional programs related to the election will be published at the polling station, said Gopal Krishna Ghimire, coordinator of the committee.

Ballot boxes will be sealed in the presence of the candidate or the candidate's representative and will be kept safe at the party's central office after the voting for the office bearers and members other than the chairperson ends. Apart from the post of chairperson, the counting of votes of the remaining office bearers and members will be held at the Central Office, Sanepa. Similarly, a code of conduct has been issued prohibiting people from carrying mobile phones inside the polling station (Bhrikuti Mandap / National Assembly House).

According to the committee, Sher Bahadur Deuba, Prakash Man Singh, Bimalendra Nidhi, Dr Shekhar Koirala and Kalyan Gurung are the candidates for the chairman's post. Vijay Kumar Gachchhadar, Mahesh Acharya, Sujata Koirala, Dr Chandra Bhandari, Dhanraj Gurung, Divyashwori Sah and Purna Bahadur Khadka are the candidates for the vice-chairman. Similarly, Dr. Minendra Rijal, Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat, Bishwaprakash Sharma, Gagan Kumar Thapa, Pradip Poudel and Dr. Rajaram Karki are the candidates for the post of the General Secretary.

Man Bahadur Vishwakarma, Badriprasad Pandey, Formullah Mansur, Sheikh Vakil, Devraj Chalise, Kishore Singh Rathore, Ranjit Karna, Jeevan Pariyar, Ram Krishna Yadav, Jeevan Bahadur Shahi, Vikas Lama, Kamala Pant, Tejulal Chaudhary, Bhishmaraj Aangdengwe, Chetraj Bajal, Umakanta Chaudhary, Ganga Sunar, Mahendra Yadav and Dina Upadhyay are the co-secretary candidates.

There is an arrangement to elect one chairperson, two deputy chairpersons, two general secretaries, and eight joint general secretaries from among the office bearers of the NC Central Working Committee. The treasurer will be elected from among the elected central members. Similarly, legislature has provisions for the election of 134 office bearers and members which include 35 open central members, nine women, 21 from each of the three states, nine Dalit, 15 Adivasi/Janajati, 13 Khas/Aryan, nine Madhesi, four Tharu, three Muslims, one from the backward areas, one from the minority and one disabled person. Besides, it is mentioned in the constitution that the central chairperson will nominate 33 candidates.

The tenure of office bearers and members of all levels of the party will be four years. In case of an extraordinary situation, the Central Working Committee may extend the period up to one year at most.