Kathmandu. The closed session of the 15th General Convention of the Nepali Congress has begun.

The last meeting of the Central Working Committee (CWC) of the Nepali Congress formed from the second special general convention held in December last year endorsed the agenda to be presented in the closed session.

The closed session has started by dividing it into three clusters. The closed session has started by dividing it into three clusters – hills, mountains and Madhes Terai.

Initially, the closed session of the hills has been held. For the closed session, the mountain hall, the hill hall and the Tarai-Madhes hall have been determined. The representatives of the provinces and various groups have been divided into the respective halls.

A total of 2,331 delegates including 1,117 representatives of Koshi Province, 299 of Karnali Province and 715 of Gandaki Province are participating in the Hill Hall. Similarly, 2,226 representatives of Bagmati Province and 1,099 representatives of Lumbini Province are participating in the Hill Hall.

A total of 1,256 representatives from Madhes Province, 650 from Sudurpaschim Province, 245 representatives from Public Relations Committee and 225 representatives from sister organizations are participating in the Tarai-Madhes Hall. The closed session will discuss the political report presented by party President Gagan Kumar Thapa, the statute and proposal related to the operation of the party by the General Secretary, and the contemporary proposal presented by the Vice-President, according to the NC.

Earlier, NC Spokesperson Devraj Chalise said that this was the last meeting of the central committee formed from the special general convention while making public the decisions of the meeting held before the commencement of the closed session of the 15th General Convention.

The meeting also decided on the political proposal presented by party president Gagan Kumar Thapa, the proposal on contemporary issues presented by Vice-president Bishwa Prakash Sharma and the proposal related to the party’s operation and statute presented by General Secretary Pradeep Poudel.

Chalise said that the political proposal presented by President Thapa has included the political line of the NC for the next four years, the government, the overall situation of the country as well as the international relations and perspective. Stating that strengthening the democratic institutions is the main challenge in the coming days, he said that nationality, democracy and socialism are the main principles of the NC.

The Congress has put forward a policy of giving priority to leadership development and capacity building for the selection of candidates in the upcoming elections. Chalise said that the concept of fielding people who have completed training and studies from the leadership academy has been put forward.

The Congress hopes that this will help in building capable leadership and promoting good governance. The meeting has also forwarded a preliminary blueprint with suggestions on the proposal related to statute amendment.

According to Chalise, the proposal presented by the general secretary incorporates the issues on how to run the party, move ahead the decision-making process and manage the responsibilities and structures at different levels of the party.

In the preliminary draft of the new statute, it has also been proposed to create additional posts at the ward, region and district levels. However, Congress spokesperson Chalise clarified that this is not the final decision. According to him, the current structure is only a preliminary blueprint.

It will be finalized only after the proposal is presented in the closed session of the 15th General Convention and passed by the delegates.