Kathmandu, 9 January: As announced earlier, former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba began his nationwide campaign to dislodge Prime Minister and NC president Girija Prasad Koirala from the party leadership from the eastern region today.
Deuba has announced his candidacy for the Nepali Congress president to be elected by the forthcoming national convention after his effort to oust Koirala from the prime minister ship failed. He said, “.since a majority members of the Nepali Congress parliamentary party rejected the no confidence motion against Prime Minister Koirala, the campaign will be shifted to oust Koirala from party presidency”.
His campaign against Koirala will start from the eastern region and conclude in the far western region, where his electoral constituency also lies.
On the first day of his battle for party presidency Deuba arrived at Biratnagar, the Prime Minister
Koirala’s hometown, where he said; ” Koirala must either relinquish the party presidency or premiership in order to create genuine unity in the party”.
Talking to journalists in Biratnagar airport today, Deuba said that his campaign against Koirala would not end until Koirala agrees to hand over leadership to the younger generation. He accused Koirala of trying to sideline his dissidents from the party. “My campaign is against this attitude,” he said.
Deuba has clearly emerged as a strong leader after Koirala giving a stiff challenge to Koirala in every
front. Although Koirala is likely to be elected party president in the forthcoming national convention, he will certainly be facing a tough challenge from Deuba who has repeatedly rejected the result of the no confidence motion against Koirala. Deuba claims that the no trust motion was rejected even without putting it for discussion in the NC parliamentary party and that the motion is still alive.
56 lawmakers of the Nepali Congress led by Deuba had registered a no confidence motion against Koirala. 69 parliamentarians rejected the motion saying that they had full faith in Koirala’s leadership. There was no vote in favour of the motion because 41 lawmakers led by Deuba boycotted the parliamentary party meeting protesting the decision of open voting on the motion.
Two MPs abstained while one Krishna Prasad Bhattarai was absent in the voting.