The ruling party has expelled 16 members for disrupting a meeting to elect delegates to the 10th Convention in Saptari district. Party president Girija Prasad Koirala ordered their expulsion for allegedly being involved in a brawl that led to the injury of an election observer. The chairman of the Saptari district development committee, Dinesh Yadav, is among those expelled for three years.

Meanwhile, Sher Bahadur Deuba, who is challenging Koirala's bid to be party president for a second time, says the president's decision goes against the practice of a hearing before a disciplinary committee prior to taking any action. But Congress spokesman Narahari Acharya described Koirala's action as a "special decision" that the president can take in serious circumstances, and that it was not routine disciplinary action.