KATHMANDU: The Deuba-Koirala faction of the Nepali Congress, which has not participated in the active membership updating process, has come under increased pressure. This follows public remarks by Party President Gagan Thapa, who stated that leaders and workers who fail to update their membership will not be recognized as members by the party’s official system.

Addressing a district-level party gathering organized in Jhapa on Tuesday, Thapa stated that the names of individuals who do not update their active membership will not appear in the party system.

“If any of you have not updated your active membership, please forgive me. The Nepali Congress respects and loves those friends who have not updated, but it does not recognize them as party members,” Thapa said. “Personally, I know you and I say Jai Nepal, but the system itself will no longer recognize you. When it is time to vote, your name will not appear in the ward.”

Previously, Thapa had stated that he would take the faction that did not participate in the special general convention along with him to the 15th General Convention. However, his latest remarks—stating that the system will not recognize those who fail to update their membership—make it clear that the Congress leadership remains firm on the updating process.

Congress President Gagan Kumar Thapa, leaders Shekhar Koirala and Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Top leaders from the faction of outgoing President Sher Bahadur Deuba and leader Shekhar Koirala, who did not participate in the special general convention, have been maintaining that they will not participate in the updating process. Targeting the 15th General Convention, they have maintained the stance that the convention should be approached based on the renewals previously carried out. Congress is preparing to hold its regular 15th General Convention in September 2026. Coming in this context, Gagan Thapa’s statement signals that if the Deuba-Koirala faction misses out on the updating process, they will be left out of the sequence right from the initial phase of the 15th General Convention.

Deuba-Koirala faction under pressure

The Membership Management Central Committee, elected by the special general convention, had initiated the membership renewal, updating, and new membership distribution process starting May 16, 2026. While no major disputes surfaced regarding renewals and new membership distribution, differences persist within Congress over the updating process.

The Deuba-Koirala faction has been arguing that existing renewals should be validated and that a new process should not be imposed under the guise of re-updating. Leaders of this faction believe that the leadership should update the membership records on its own.

Focusing on this issue, the Deuba-Koirala faction held a Koshi Province-level gathering in Biratnagar on June 14, 2026, launching a unity campaign while concluding that the party was heading toward a split. Leaders including Shashank Koirala, Krishna Prasad Sitaula, Bijay Kumar Gachhadar, Min Bishwakarma, N.P. Saud, and Mohan Bahadur Basnet participated in the gathering.

Since then, the Deuba-Koirala faction has not appeared publicly active, nor has any new stance emerged. Leaders state that no meetings have taken place between the two groups either. Since the gathering, Shekhar Koirala has been staying in Biratnagar. He says, “I will not update; they can remove me from the party instead. When Ganesh Man and Kishunji separated themselves from the party, who am I?”

Meanwhile, by repeatedly extending the deadline for membership updates, the Congress leadership has maintained political pressure on the disgruntled faction. Initially, the Membership Management Central Committee had set the deadline for updates until the night of June 11, 2026. Since all members did not participate in the process as expected, the committee held a meeting on June 14, 2026, and extended the deadline until July 5, 2026, targeting ‘members of a special nature.’

On one hand, the extension of the deadline is viewed as a management effort to provide an opportunity to left-out members, while on the other, it is understood as a strategic move by the leadership to bring the boycotting Deuba-Koirala faction into the process by the final hour.

Some top leaders of Congress have turned the update into a matter of prestige. Prakash Sharan Mahat, a leader close to Deuba, says that members who have already renewed should be updated based on that very renewal. “We have already done the renewals. They can just update it taking that as the basis,” Mahat says. “It shouldn’t be done for some and left out for others.”

However, Prakash Rasaili Snehi, Joint General Secretary and member of the Membership Management Committee, states that the majority of party workers have already participated in the updating process.

“Most of the workers are part of the update. There is still time,” he says. “One can simply self-declare and join the process.”

Majority of cadres participating in the process

Even though top leaders of the Deuba-Koirala faction have not participated in the update, several leaders from that very faction have accepted the process. They state that the update should not be made a matter of prestige.

Minendra Rijal, a leader close to Koirala, participated in the updating process right at the beginning. He states that the old committee from the 14th General Convention should not be mixed as-is into the committee elected by the special general convention.

“The update should not be made a matter of prestige,” Rijal says. “The committee elected from the 14th General Convention cannot be mixed into the committee elected from the special general convention.”

According to him, the special general convention was concluded following the determination that the old committee was not functioning well. Recalling that though the disgruntled faction moved the court, the court upheld the special general convention, he says, “Now how can the old working committee be mixed into the new working committee as-is? That would not be appropriate,” Rijal says. “The old and new committees will only merge at the 15th General Convention. For that, both factions must have equal rights.”

The special general convention concluded on January 11, 2026, had amended the Congress statute to introduce new provisions regarding membership management. In Clause 14 of Article 4 of the amended statute, a special provision has been inserted for updating membership records.

According to the statute, keeping the circumstances following the special general convention in mind, the Central Working Committee can make a one-time special decision to require all affiliated members of the party to refill the active membership form. Through this, membership records will be updated, and IDs will be provided to members who remain valid after the updating process.

Meanwhile, the Deuba faction has stated that it will not give an immediate reaction to President Thapa’s recent remarks. Leader Bimalendra Nidhi says, “I will not say anything right now. We will bring our views forward after holding discussions.”

According to the interpretation of the Congress leadership, members who are not updated will not be allowed to participate even in the lowest tier of the general convention process, which is the ward convention. For this reason, pressure continues to mount on the leaders and workers boycotting the update to join the process.