Deuba Given Status of Party President at Chundevi Office, Deepening Visible Rift in Nepali Congress

Dragon Media Correspondent

A dissident faction of the Nepali Congress has accorded Sher Bahadur Deuba the status of party president at its contact office in Chundevi, Kathmandu, further exposing the leadership dispute within the party.

The faction established the separate contact office in Chundevi after the working committee elected by the special general convention held last Poush began operating from the Nepali Congress central office in Sanepa.

At the Chundevi office, a separate chamber has been arranged for Deuba and a signboard identifying him as “Nepali Congress President” has been installed.

Deuba, who returned to Kathmandu from abroad on Thursday, was given a grand welcome by leaders and cadres of the faction at Tribhuvan International Airport before proceeding to the Chundevi office.

Immediately after arriving at the airport, Deuba called for party unity. He also said he wanted to pass on his political experience to the younger generation and play a role in promoting national unity.

However, his subsequent appearance at the Chundevi office in the capacity of party president has made the internal division within the Nepali Congress increasingly visible.

While the leadership elected by the special general convention continues to operate from the party’s central office in Sanepa, the Deuba faction has begun conducting political activities from a separate office while presenting him as the legitimate party president.

With two rival sides now asserting their respective leadership claims within the same party, the dispute has moved beyond political disagreement and become visible at the organizational level.

Although Deuba has publicly emphasized the need for unity, the establishment of a separate presidential office and the continuation of parallel political activities suggest that an immediate resolution of the Nepali Congress leadership dispute remains unlikely.