Nepali Congress General Convention starts today

The 14th General Convention of the Nepali Congress is starting today. The General Convention will be inaugurated at 1 pm at Bhrikuti Mandap. According to the party office, all preparations for the inauguration have been completed. The convention will be inaugurated by Prime Minister and party president Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Secretary of the party office Dr. Pradip Parajuli informed that the inauguration ceremony will be addressed by the leaders of various parties and guests from abroad. The main stage for the inauguration has been prepared in the courtyard of Bhrikuti Mandap. He said that only delegates from the party's general convention and spontaneous participants would be present at the inauguration as participants from outside the Kathmandu Valley were not invited due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Five large displays are placed outside the stage to make it easier for participants to see. A separate area has been set up near the stage for the media to report. There is a large sound system to make the sound of the stage heard everywhere.

The party flag and election symbol are adorned with tree flags at the convention venue and reception gates have been set up at various places around it. Similarly, the banner of the candidates for the General Convention is all over the Bhrikuti Mandap. There will be 4,700 delegates to this convention. According to the party office, most of the delegates have already arrived in Kathmandu.

Food and snacks will be provided for the delegates to the General Convention inside the Bhrikuti Mandap, and accommodation has been arranged in various hotels in the capital. Similarly, a large stage has been set up in the hall of Bhrikuti Mandap for the closed session and seven displays have been placed inside the hall. It is stated that Nepal Police has made necessary arrangements for security at the General Convention and Traffic Police has made arrangements for proper management of vehicles.

Voting will start at 8 am on December 13th.

According to the party's Central Election Committee, the list of delegates will be published on December 10th at 10 am. Candidate nomination registration will be held from 10 am to 5 pm on December 11, protests and scrutiny on candidature nomination registration will be held on December 11 from 5 pm to 7 pm, and decision on protest will be decided on the same day from 7 pm to 9 pm.

The first list of candidates will be published from 9 pm to 12 noon on December 11, the time for withdrawal of nomination papers will be till 11 am on December 12, the final list of candidates will be published on December 12 at 12:15 pm and voting will be held from 8 am on December 13, said committee coordinator Gopal Krishna Ghimire.

Voting will take place at Bhrikuti Mandap and National Assembly Hall. There will be 29 types of ballot papers in the polling and ballot papers of different sizes and colors will be arranged according to the number of candidates. Though there was a discussion on using the electronic voting machines in the General Convention, voting will be done on the ballot paper.

There is an arrangement for the election of 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, a total of 134 office bearers and members including 35 open central members, nine women, 21 from each of the three states, 9 Dalits, 15 Adivasi/Janajati, 13 Khas/Aryan, 9 Madhesi, 4 Tharu, 3 Muslim, one from backward areas, one from minority, one from among disabled people will be elected as members. Besides, it is mentioned in the constitution that the central chairperson will nominate 33 candidates.