KATHMANDU, Dec 20: The faction led by Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba has secured majority in the central committee of the Nepali Congress (NC) from the open category.
According to the counting of votes held on Sunday under the 14th General Convention of the NC, 25 leaders from the Deuba faction have been elected as central members. Of the total 35 CWC members in the open category, only 10 leaders of other groups have secured their seats.
According to the final results released by the NC’s Election Committee on Sunday, there are 16 new faces in the 35 member open central members committee. Leaders of Nepal Students Union and Nepal Tarun Dal including current and former presidents have become central members of the party. A total of 19 leaders have been re-elected to the Central Working Committee.
Outgoing General Secretary of the party, Shashank Koirala received the highest number of votes among the leaders who were re-elected in the Central Committee. He received 3,836 votes. His name was on the panel in both Deuba and Shekhar Koirala groups
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Similarly, NP Saud, Bal Krishna Khand, Udaya Shamsher Rana, Ram Hari Khatiwada, Ramesh Lekhak, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, Shankar Bhandari, Jipchhiring Lama and Arjun Narasimha KC are among the other nine leaders to be elected as central members with the most votes. Apart from Shashank and KC, all the leaders who have secured their place in the top 10 are leaders close to Deuba.
Likewise, Rana and Khatiwada are the leaders to reach the Central Committee for the first time. Rana, who is also the former president of Nepal Tarun Dal, has secured fourth position and Khatiwada has secured fifth position. Khatiwada, who was defeated as a central member in the 13th general convention, was elected from Okhaldhunga in the 2070 Constituent Assembly election.
Nepal Tarun Dal President Jit Jung Basnet has secured 11th position, former president of Nepal Students Union Nain Singh Mahar 15th, former general secretary of Nepal Students Union Kundan Raj Kafle 20th and former vice president of the NSU Guru Baral 25th position. Sanjay Kumar Gautam of Bardiya, Govindaraj Pokhrel, former vice-chairman of the National Planning Commission and Rajiv Dhungana, president of the Nepal Students' Union have also been elected as central members.
Dinesh Koirala who missed the chance of being mayor of Bharatpur Metropolitan city, Madan Bahadur Amatya, general secretary of Nepal Press Union, Ajay Babu Shiwakoti and former general secretary of Nepal Students Union, Umesh Jung Rayamajhi have also been elected as central members for the first time.
Ganesh Lama who has controversial background, Mohan Acharya, who was elected as a member of the House of Representatives from Rasuwa and Krishna Kishore Ghimire, a former leader of Dang, have also been elected as central members. Ghimire was earlier an invited central member.
Although the counting of votes of various groups including women central members started from Sunday, it will take a few more days for the results to come. In the election held for 134 posts including 13 office bearers, two central members were elected unopposed.
A total of 99 leaders had competed for the post of 35 member open central members committee. The counting of votes so far has shown a clear majority in favor of President Deuba. However, there are also leaders close to former general secretary Krishna Prasad Sitaula.
