Congress Faces Internal Dispute Over Membership Updates

Kathmandu. The deadline for updating the digital records of party renewal active members, which the Nepali Congress started on April 1st, ended at 12 midnight last night. 

According to a statement issued by Krishna Prasad Dulal, acting chief secretary of the Congress central office, 538,622 out of 782,209 active members eligible for renewal within the stipulated time have received their 'NCID'. Active members who renewed their membership or obtained new active membership from the House of Representatives constituency by January 6th were considered eligible for the update. 

According to the statement, 149,309 members are in the process of being updated after filling out the update form. Pradip Paudel, coordinator of the active membership management committee, informed that the 'NCID' card will be provided to those who have filled out the form after completing the process. 

Despite the deadline, most top leaders, including former president Sher Bahadur Deuba and leader Dr. Shekhar Koirala's factions' former office bearers, have not updated their membership digitally. Top leaders who have been central members multiple times, such as Deuba, Dr. Koirala, former acting president Purna Bahadur Khadka, former vice-presidents Dhanraj Gurung, Bimalendra Nidhi, Prakashman Singh, former general secretaries Krishna Prasad Sitaula, Dr. Shashank Koirala, and joint general secretaries Mahalakshmi Upadhyay, Umakant Chaudhary, Dr. Prakashsharan Mahat, Kishore Singh Rathore, and Badri Pandey, have not updated their membership. 

Mahanta Paudel stated that veteran leaders who have worked in the party for a long time have not updated their membership not due to lack of information but by choice. He added that old and senior leaders who have not yet updated their membership digitally can still be included if they wish to participate. "Some friends do not want to be included because it has been made a political issue," said Mahanta Paudel, who is also the committee coordinator, to Rato Pati. "If they agree and request to be included in the update, we can include them. We are ready for that." 

Paudel said that it was not their intention to exclude anyone from the membership update, but they were excluded by making it a political issue. "It is not our intention to exclude anyone, they were excluded by making it a political issue," Paudel said. "If they wish to be included in the membership update, we will create an environment for it." 

Paudel mentioned that they expected cooperation from all senior party leaders in building the infrastructure for the digital connectivity of millions of members, but they did not receive it. "The update of party members benefits the party itself. Building the digital connectivity infrastructure for millions of members was not a small task. We expected cooperation from all senior party leaders in this matter," Paudel said. "The issue of membership update should not have become an internal dispute, but it did. It should not have become a political issue, but it did." 

Leaders from other factions, on the other hand, have put forth a condition that the active membership renewal for the 15th General Convention should not be made mandatory. To counter this, the Congress establishment has decided that those who do not update will not be able to participate in the 15th General Convention. 

Dr. Prakashsharan Mahat, a leader from the Deuba faction and former joint general secretary, believes that the decision to make it mandatory for members who have already renewed their active membership for the 15th General Convention to update it again is impractical. "After renewing membership for a general convention, it should be mandatory to update it again. Asking them to go to their own ward for that is not practical, we have asked not to make it mandatory," said Dr. Mahat. 

Speaking to reporters at his residence in Basbari on Thursday morning, Mahat said that they are not against the update process, but the party's central office should automatically update members who have already renewed their membership. "Updates should be done in a timely manner. We are not against the update process," said Dr. Mahat. "However, the rule that a person who has renewed their membership once has to go to their own ward again for an update is impractical. The central office should automatically update those who have already renewed." 

Dr. Shekhar Koirala had put forth 5 proposals to maintain party unity through a statement a few days ago. The first point of that proposal mentions "not making the active membership update for the 15th General Convention mandatory." 

The dispute in Congress intensified after the special convention held in the last week of Poush selected a new leadership amidst disagreement between the then central committee and the president. The working committee selected by the special convention under the leadership of Gagan Thapa decided that active members until the special convention must compulsorily do a 'digital update' for the 15th General Convention, which has been opposed by the Deuba and Shekhar factions. They have made it a matter of political prestige by urging not to make the update mandatory and have not updated their membership, stating that they will not update if it is made mandatory. 

Coordinator Paudel of the active membership management committee argues that keeping digital records of party members is a technical matter, not a political one, and that it should not be seen negatively to be able to see the 'status' of party members with a single click. However, the opposing factions have been protesting, claiming that the establishment has adopted this strategy to create difficulties.