Nepali Congress President Gagan Thapa takes oath — Kathmandu Post

In Nepal, Gagan Thapa, the newly elected president of the Nepali Congress party, took the oath of office a week after winning the party’s internal election. He said that during his four-year term, he would seek to make the party a political force trusted by the largest number of citizens, Kathmandu Post reports.

Other officeholders and members of the central committee will take the oath after Dashain. Thapa explained that he took it earlier because the party needs to make several decisions before then.

Priorities of the new leader

After the ceremony, Thapa said that his work would be guided by the principles of democracy, self-respect and social justice. He also pledged to strengthen the Nepali Congress’s role in ideological discussions and public movements.

According to the politician, his leadership should be judged not by speeches or promises, but by decisions, conduct and public accountability, particularly during difficult periods. Thapa called preserving the party’s legacy and adapting it to changing Nepali society and the expectations of the new generation the main challenge.

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He rejected promises of a “miraculous” transformation of the party, stressing that decisions on cooperation or confrontation with political forces and institutions would be made in accordance with the Nepali Congress’s core values.

Election results and women’s representation

At the party’s 15th general convention, Thapa received 6,584 votes, or 93.9% of the votes cast, ahead of his rival Shyam Krishna Khadgi, who received 375 votes, or 5.4%.

During the convention, women won 69 of the 231 elected positions on the new central committee, or 29.87%. Three of them took leadership positions: Pushpa Bhusal became vice president, Dila Sangraula Pant became general secretary, and Pratima Gautam became joint general secretary. Sangraula became the first woman general secretary in the party’s history.

Overall, the Nepali Congress central committee has 297 members: 231 are elected, while another 66 are appointed by the party president. The party statute requires women to make up at least one-third of the committee, so Thapa must appoint at least 30 women to reach the required figure of 99 female representatives.