Nepali Congress has finally given full shape to its zonal committees and central departments. The party had been putting off nominations to its important functional committees for the last two years due to internal power struggle between party president Sushil Koirala and other senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba. The committees should have been given full shape within two months of the party General Convention two years back.

Nepali Congress has been weakened by the rift that runs right down to its local committees. The rift had first led to a vertical split in the party in 2002, when Deuba led group revolted against the then party president Girija Prasad Koirala. Although the party did come back together, the factionalism has stayed in the party. Deuba camp has always challenged Koirala family’s ancestral dominance in the party.

Due to mounting pressure, Sushil Koirala was forced to form the committed using his prerogative powers. Central leaders Chandra Bhandari, Nabindra Raj Joshi, Shankar Bhandari, Prakash Sharan Mahat, Sujata Koirala and Dhanraj Gurung have been assigned party’s Education, Students, Youths, Natural Resources, International Relations and Sports departments, respectively. Dilendra Prasad Badu has been nominated as party’s new spokesperson.

Besides these, two central steering committees were formed, each headed by party General Secretaries Prakash Man Singh and Krishna Prasad Sitaula to oversee general conventions of party’s sister wings and to assist and direct the ad hoc committees thereof.The party also formed twelve new departments including Muslim, Tarai-Madhes, Peace, Security and Service, Federal Affairs, among others to be endorsed by the party’s Central Working Committee later.

However, leaders in the Deuba camp have expressed their dissatisfaction over Koirala’s unilateral decisions and even those nominated have said decisions made without consultation would not have any meaning. A leader close to Deuba said, “ I did not know about the nominations until my friends called and congratulated me.”