Congress Faces Its Real Test After the Leadership Change

Editorial

With Gagan Thapa taking the oath as president, the Nepali Congress has formally completed its leadership transition. Thapa received 6,584 votes at the party convention, while his rival, Shyam Krishna Khadgi, received 375. The result shows that Thapa has strong support within the party. But the backing of convention delegates cannot be equated with the trust of voters across the country. The Congress’s main challenge is not simply to signal a change in leadership; it is to prove that the party’s work and conduct have changed.

The new leadership has pledged to restore public trust and put citizens’ concerns first. That commitment is welcome, but it must be reflected in the party’s everyday practices. If decisions continue to be made within a small circle, responsibilities are distributed through factional bargaining, and leaders reach out to the public only during elections, the promise of change will soon lose meaning.

The Congress’s first task is to establish clear rules and accountability within its own organisation. It needs to make its committees at every level more active, give members a greater role in decision-making, and select candidates based on merit, contribution and public support. Young people and women must have meaningful roles in policy-making and leadership, not just in speeches and campaign publicity. If those who express dissent within the party are treated as rivals or enemies, claims of internal democracy will ring hollow.

The second challenge is to set out a clear political position on the government and the exercise of power. Criticising the government from the opposition benches is not enough. The party must explain which policies it supports, which decisions it opposes, and what alternatives it proposes to address people’s concerns. Without practical, measurable proposals on good governance, jobs, education, health and public services, voters will see the Congress as just another party focused on power.

The leadership must also turn self-examination into action. Acknowledging past failures takes political courage, but a review that remains confined to a report will achieve little. The party needs to make clear who will be held responsible for decisions, set deadlines for organisational reform and publicly report on progress. The commitment to reform will be credible only if the same standards apply to the president’s own allies.

The Congress’s history and former base of public support do not exempt it from today’s challenges. Voters judge parties by their current performance, integrity and vision for the future, not by their past contributions alone. Gagan Thapa has received a strong mandate within the party. He and the wider leadership must now turn that mandate into public trust. The proof that the Congress has changed will be found not in speeches, but in transparent decisions, an active organisation and results that improve people’s lives.