KATHMANDU: The Nepali Congress has extended the deadline for active membership updating, renewal, and new distribution for the fourth time. After failing to complete the process that began on May 16, the Membership Management Committee extended the timeframe to July 18.

However, this time, the Congress has tightened the rules for members who missed out. Those who did not come forward for updates by July 4, must now submit an application directly to the central office and complete the process in person. The Congress stated that the system opened for updates has been closed since July 5.

“Individuals who missed out have been given time to update again, but this will now be possible only from the center,” says Acting Chief Secretary Krishna Dulal.

General Secretary and Membership Management Committee Coordinator Pradip Paudel states that updates or new memberships will not be accepted through the system after the specified deadline. He says, “Now, we will not go even a day past the specified date. We will not accept updates from the system, nor will we add new members.”

According to him, a decision to exclude members who fail to update on time from the general convention has not been made yet. The Central Committee will decide on that. “Even if the party’s formal system is closed, the Central Committee will decide up to when—perhaps one or two months before the general convention—time should be given to a Congress member who wishes to come forward and become a member,” Paudel says.

Prakash Rasaili, a member of the Membership Management Committee and Vice President, says that tightening of the membership process has begun. He says, “This is the final extension. After this, we will hand it over to the Election Committee and endorse it through the President.”

The Congress had initially set the deadline for membership updating, renewal, and new membership distribution until June 4. Following that, the deadline was extended until midnight on June 11. Since the process was still not completed, it was repeatedly extended to June 14, June 21, July 4, and finally to July 19.

The main reason for such repeated deadline extensions is that the rival factions remain outside the process. The faction of outgoing President Sher Bahadur Deuba and the faction of leader Shekhar Koirala have maintained the stance that the renewal carried out after the 14th General Convention should be considered equivalent to an update. They are against making the update a mandatory condition for participating in the general convention.

On the other hand, the establishment side has been arguing that updating is mandatory according to the party statute. However, because questions could be raised regarding the membership list, delegate selection, and the legitimacy of the general convention if the rival factions remain outside the process, the establishment has been continuously extending the deadline.

The Congress has not disclosed the number of members updated until July 4. There are about 780,000 active members in the Congress. Paudel says, “Information has arrived that around 700,000 have updated. However, it must come from the ward to the municipality, municipality to the constituency, constituency to the district, and district to the province before reaching the center. Therefore, the arrival of full details is being delayed.”

Koirala’s ultimatum and the Deuba faction’s preparation

The membership dispute in the Congress is no longer just a technical process. Since this membership list will form the basis for delegate selection and leadership competition in the upcoming 15th General Convention, it has become the main issue for the balance of power within the Congress. The committee elected by the Special General Convention on January 11, 2026, is preparing to hold the regular general convention by this coming September/October.

To bring the rival faction to consensus, General Secretary Gururaj Ghimire held talks with Koirala on June 26, and with Purna Bahadur Khadka, a leader from the Deuba faction, on June 30. In those talks, both sides put forward their proposals and conditions. Ghimire had informed President Gagan Thapa and Vice President Bishwa Prakash Sharma about the discussions.

Even though the time for updating active membership has been prolonged targeting the rival faction, President Gagan Thapa has not taken the initiative for talks. He has put forward General Secretary Ghimire and Vice President Bishwa Prakash Sharma. Following General Secretary Ghimire’s talks with both leaders of the rival faction, a long-standing communication gap was broken.

According to sources close to Koirala, after the rival faction sought President Gagan Thapa’s direct role for unity in the party, Vice President Sharma reached Koirala’s residence in Dhapasi on July 2, to meet him, but no concrete proposal was brought forward. “He came only for a meeting. There was no agenda,” the source said.

Following that, Koirala angrily gave an ultimatum to finalize the issue of party unity by July 9, 2026, his secretariat sources claim. No further details regarding the conversation between the two have been made public.

Koirala, who had gone to Biratnagar for the Koshi Province-level gathering held on June 14, arrived in Kathmandu on July 1. During his two-day stay, he met with leaders including Khadka, Krishna Prasad Sitaula, Bimalendra Nidhi, and NP Saud. After that, he returned to Biratnagar again.

He has been warning that he will not update his membership and will instead face any disciplinary action taken by the party. Having centered himself in Biratnagar recently, he is supervising the reconstruction of his residence, which was burned down during the Gen Z protest.

The Deuba faction, meanwhile, has been pressuring the establishment side to have the office itself handle the updates if it is absolutely mandatory. The faction has already engaged in general convention preparations after concluding gatherings across all seven provinces. A meeting of the faction held at Khadka’s residence in Golfutar on July 3, concluded that President Thapa is not in favor of party unity. The Deuba faction has decided to establish a contact office in Chundevi to prepare for the 15th General Convention.

“The leadership has been evading party unity by making various excuses. Therefore, we have established a contact office for the 15th General Convention and started preparations for a national gathering,” says former Vice President Bimalendra Nidhi. “The meeting on July 6, will decide when to hold the national gathering.”