Senior leaders close to Nepali Congress leader Purna Bahadur Khadka have said he was not in favor of approaching the Supreme Court against the Election Commission’s decision. According to the leaders, Khadka’s group moved forward with a writ petition only due to pressure from former party president Sher Bahadur Deuba.
“Purna Bahadur Khadka clearly insisted that the party should not go to court, but Deuba and some leaders close to him maintained that filing a case was necessary,” a leader said.
Leaders including Ramesh Lekhak and Shyam Kumar Ghimire, along with Khadka, were opposed to going to court. Khadka, however, held a particularly firm stance against judicial intervention.
“There were discussions about expanding the central committee formed through the special general convention and moving forward accordingly. It was also argued that communist parties operate with large central committees,” another leader said.
Election Ethics and Internal Party Deliberations
After a case was filed against the executive committee formed through the special general convention despite his opposition, Khadka told his group that it would be ethically inappropriate for him to contest the upcoming election. The writ petition was filed at the Supreme Court through legal representatives in the names of Sher Bahadur Deuba and Purna Bahadur Khadka.
Although Khadka has decided not to run in the election, leaders said he has encouraged others to contest in unity under the party’s banner and to hold discussions with the newly elected executive committee led by Gagan Thapa.
“I was in the role of acting party president and failed to conduct either a regular or special general convention. On moral grounds, I cannot contest this election,” Khadka told leaders close to him. “You should contest the election under the party’s election symbol, the tree, and engage in dialogue with the new leadership.”
Despite Khadka’s opposition, Deuba insisted that the party should go to court and seek an interim order. “After that, despite his dissatisfaction, Purna Bahadur Khadka went to court,” the leader said.
The Deuba faction filed the writ petition opposing the Election Commission’s decision to recognize the executive committee formed through the special general convention. Candidate registration for the House of Representatives election scheduled for Falgun 21 is set to take place tomorrow.
The Nepali Congress is convening a parliamentary board meeting to finalize candidates. Leaders said preparations are underway to allocate tickets to leaders close to Deuba. However, leaders said the likelihood of Deuba himself receiving a ticket remains low.
