Nepali Congress to Not Extend Membership Update Deadline

Kathmandu. The Nepali Congress will not extend the deadline for updating party active membership by a lump sum anymore. The active membership management committee of the Congress, which has made it mandatory for active members who renewed for the 15th General Convention to 'digitally update', will no longer extend the deadline by a lump sum.< /p>

However, the faction of former President Sher Bahadur Deuba and leader Dr. Shekhar Koirala still maintains its stance of not re-updating the active members who renewed for the 15th General Convention.< /p>

The meeting chaired by General Secretary Pradip Paudel on May 15 had decided that the process of active membership distribution, renewal of missed ones, and updating must be completed by June 5, 2025. That time is only until tomorrow.< /p>

Now, for those who missed out, a lump sum extension will not be given, informed Congress Co-General Secretary Yogendra Chaudhary, who is also a member of the committee. 'Now, if anyone has missed out, we cannot give a lump sum time to update. Whichever district committee requests, we will give time according to how much time they need to complete it,' he told Ratopati. 'That too can only be given within a week. More time will not be given.'< /p>

The committee has concluded that if any committee has not done the work related to active membership updating at all, they will find an alternative for it, but will not give them time, said Co-General Secretary Chaudhary. 'If they haven't done the work at all, we will find an alternative for the leadership of that level. We will not give them additional time to do it,' he said.< /p>

However, the faction of former President Sher Bahadur Deuba has stated that the renewal of active membership for the 15th General Convention was already completed on January 10.< /p>

Leader of the faction and former acting President Purna Bahadur Khadka clarified in a statement on Monday that updating is not necessary.< /p>

'We want to clarify and assure all friends, leaders, active members, supporters, and well-wishers of the Nepali Congress party and its sister and well-wisher organizations at various levels, both within the country and abroad, that we are firm and committed to ensuring that the active memberships renewed by January 10, 2025, for the 15th General Convention, and those distributed and renewed thereafter, will be considered valid and those members will participate in the General Convention,' Khadka stated in the press release.< /p>

In response to Ratopati's query about the press release issued by Khadka, Co-General Secretary Chaudhary said that they had failed to explain the work they were doing regarding active membership.< /p>

'I feel that we have not been able to explain to the leaders including former acting President Purna Bahadur Khadka about the active membership issue, for which he issued a press release,' Chaudhary said. 'The active members who renewed for the 15th General Convention are all voters in the 15th General Convention, as decided by the active membership management committee formed by the executive committee elected from the 14th General Convention led by then General Secretary and current President Gagan Thapa. There is no doubt about that. However, just as a voter card is mandatory to vote in the general election, we are also making a card mandatory to vote in the party's convention and general convention. To get that card, we have brought a provision that members must update digitally.'< /p>

Chaudhary said that members will not be given a card without updating their membership, and those without a card will not have the right to vote in the convention.< /p>

The Congress has made a provision that those who have renewed their active membership will not have to pay any fee for updating.< /p>

The dispute that started in the Congress after the special general convention held without the consent of the then central committee in the last week of January continues. That dispute is also visible in the renewal of active membership.< /p>

The rival group is maintaining its stance of not updating, calling it impractical to ask for re-updating those who renewed by January 10 before the special general convention. The establishment, on the other hand, is saying that it is necessary to update the party's member data digitally in a timely manner, and those who do not update will not be able to participate in the convention.< /p>