KATHMANDU: Three weeks have passed since communication broke down between Nepali Congress President Gagan Thapa and leader Dr. Shekhar Koirala, who is considered a centrist.

The two leaders, who last met on May 5, have not even had telephone contact. The distance between them has widened over the issue of updating the active membership of the Nepali Congress.

After Thapa was elected president from the special general convention on January 11, the Deuba faction approached the Election Commission and eventually the Supreme Court, demanding a decision on the official legitimacy of the Nepali Congress. On April 19, the Supreme Court granted official legitimacy to Thapa. Immediately after, to send a message of inclusivity to both sides, Thapa met with outgoing Vice President Purna Bahadur Khadka. Making the membership update his “weapon,” Thapa stated the need to move forward together for the 15th general convention. Planning to hold the regular 15th general convention within October, he concluded that the process of membership renewal, distribution, and updating must begin.

Before that, Thapa wanted to speak with Koirala regarding the membership issue. However, he adopted a strategy of not raising the context of membership updates with Koirala right at the beginning. Therefore, he sent General Secretary Pradip Paudel to pitch the proposal of Senior Leader to Koirala. Arriving at Bishalnagar, Paudel told Koirala, “Please become the Senior Leader.”

“But I told him to send Gagan himself,” Koirala told Nepal News, “After that, Gagan came to meet me on May 5.” Thapa, who arrived at Koirala’s contact office in Bishalnagar on May 5, placed the proposals for both Senior Leader and the membership update simultaneously. Koirala says, “I told him I have no desire to become the Senior Leader, and if you start the membership drive, I will not remain in the party.”

Faced with Koirala’s direct but passionate expression, Gagan tried to soothe him. “He said, ‘No, you cannot do that, let’s cooperate,’ and after that, I prepared a five-point unity proposal in consultation with Gagan,” Koirala says.

Thapa left Bishalnagar saying he would discuss the proposal and inform him within three days. “Since then, the president has not come into contact,” Koirala says. “Because he didn’t speak for so many days, I made the five points public myself.”

Now that President Thapa has started the membership update without an agreement, the Koirala and Deuba factions are irritated. Koirala feeling betrayed by Thapa, and subsequently making his five-point proposal public on Monday evening for party unity, was a direct result of this.

Koirala’s stance

Koirala has accepted the Thapa leadership that emerged from the special general convention. However, he does not want to proceed toward updating the membership. He says, “The special general convention was conducted by 54 percent. Other opinions in the party must be included; 54 percent alone is not the Nepali Congress. That is why I said let’s not make the update a mandatory condition in order to go to the 15th general convention unitedly.” Koirala has no objection to new membership distribution and renewals.

Immediately after leaving the five-point agreement meeting with Koirala, Thapa initiated the membership update. On May 15, Thapa activated the Membership Management Committee coordinated by General Secretary Paudel. He had a circular issued to the party rank and file to complete renewals, new membership distribution, and updates by June 4.

Accordingly, the membership update started on May 16. In this, even leader Purna Bahadur Khadka, who is leading the faction of outgoing President Sher Bahadur Deuba, disagrees. Nepali Congress Chief Secretary Krishna Dulal claims that 100,000 active members have already participated in the update so far. Both the Khadka and Koirala factions are not participating in the update. “I will not update; instead, they can kick me out of the party if they want,” Koirala says.

During the 14th general convention, Congress had 800,000 active members. Dulal states that 500,000 members had renewed their membership by the day before the special general convention. Koirala remains firm that this renewal number prepared for the 15th general convention should not be made a mandatory condition for the update. The Deuba faction holds the same stance.

However, the proponents of the special general convention have put forward the update as a mandatory condition. The special general convention has already amended the party statue of the Nepali Congress. Subsection 14 of Article 4 of the amended statute contains a provision stating that active members existing up to the special general convention must compulsorily update their membership after the special general convention. The criteria for this must be specified by the Central Working Committee.

According to Dulal, the Membership Distribution and Update Directive, 2026 was issued based on that very statute. “Whoever respects the statute updates, and whoever does not, their update will not remain valid,” Dulal says. “Active members who do not update will not be allowed to elect general convention representatives.” The Central Working Committee has the authority to decide whether to allow members who do not update their active membership to remain party members.

The Thapa faction is not ready to go to the 15th general convention without updating. The Thapa faction has made a strategy to select general convention representatives based on whoever is included in the update. “After accepting the special general convention, one must accept the statute and the decisions made by the elected committee,” General Secretary Paudel says. “Membership updates, distribution, and renewals will continue.”

Even though both the Koirala and Deuba factions have not stopped new membership distribution and renewals, their non-participation in the update has pushed the internal feud of the Congress to its peak.

The party may split, I will remain independent: Koirala

Koirala has signaled that the active membership update dispute within the Nepali Congress could lead to a party split. Therefore, Koirala states that the dispute must be settled immediately, and President Thapa’s initiative will be decisive for that. He says, “I am personally making efforts for party unity daily; whether the president understands the sensitivity of the party or not, I do not know.”

Koirala was hinting at the possibility that the Deuba faction could split the party. Some leaders of the Deuba faction are discussing an agenda to form a new party. Leaders Krishna Prasad Sitaula, Prakash Man Singh, and Bimalendra Nidhi are leading it. While rumors are circulating within Nepali Congress circles that one of the three leaders will lead the newly formed party, none of the three leaders commented on this. Sitaula and Singh reached Dhanusha on Thursday to participate in mourning the death of a relative of Nidhi. Deuba-aligned leader Prakash Sharan Mahat says, “I have also been hearing about the formation of a new party in the media. I don’t know who is promoting it. Our point is that there should be party unity and the 15th general convention should be fair.”

Mahat states that a mechanism of common consensus must be formed to conduct the 15th general convention. “Only such a mechanism can ensure the general convention in a fair manner, that is our demand,” Mahat says.

In the event that the party splits, Koirala is in a mindset to remain independent. “I will not stay anywhere, I will remain independent. When Ganesh Man Singh and Krishna Prasad Bhattarai left the party and lived, can’t I live independently?”

Emphasizing that if the party splits, the blame will go to the current president, Koirala stresses that he is the one who must take steps toward unity.