Nepali Congress President Gagan Thapa took the oath of office on Saturday, a week after being elected party chief, pledging to make Congress the most trusted political force during his four-year term.
Other office bearers and central committee members will take their oaths after Dashain. Thapa said he had taken the oath earlier because the party needed to make several decisions in the meantime.
Speaking at the party’s central office after the oath ceremony, Thapa outlined his priorities, saying democracy, self-respect and social justice would guide his leadership. He also pledged to make Congress a leading force in ideological debate and social movements.
Thapa said his leadership would be judged not by speeches or promises but by decisions, conduct and public accountability, particularly during difficult times. “What I have said will now be judged through my actions. How I make decisions, fulfil public accountability and stand for justice will determine that,” he asserted. “The real question is how I make decisions during difficult times, where I stand when things become challenging, and whether I stand for truth and justice.”
Thapa said he viewed the presidency not as “a crown of arrogance” but as a responsibility entrusted to him by the party activists. “I do not consider the president’s position a crown of arrogance. I am beginning this journey believing that I have been placed on the ground to fulfil people’s concerns and hopes, not given a crown to wear,” he said.
Thapa said his main challenge was to preserve Congress’s legacy while making it relevant to a changing Nepali society. Referring to BP Koirala, the party’s founding leader, he said the Congress had established itself by addressing the concerns of society in his time and must now respond to the aspirations of a new generation.
“There are questions in today’s society from 18-year-olds to ordinary citizens. There are questions from voters who have traditionally supported the Congress but moved away from it this time,” said Thapa. “I have taken this oath for the next four years to build a Congress capable of giving convincing answers to every citizen’s questions.”
He ruled out promises of a miraculous transformation, pledging instead to work honestly. Decisions on cooperation or confrontation with political forces and institutions, he said, would be guided by the party’s core values.
“Even citizens who do not vote for the Congress will examine whether we have failed to uphold these values. We will be tested every day, and we will face that test honestly,” he said.
Thapa said the party’s success should not be measured solely by election results or the number of programmes it organised. Its ability to earn public trust and support people facing difficulties would be a more meaningful measure.
“My pledge today is to make Nepali Congress the party trusted by the largest number of citizens,” he said. “We must focus more than any other party on citizens’ concerns and become a force people can rely on whenever they face problems or hardship.”
He also pledged to encourage ideological debate, warning that avoiding discussions out of fear of losing votes would weaken the party. “A party that has separated itself from ideas is not a party. Parties without ideas cannot lead society,” he said.
Thapa secured the highest number of votes at the Congress’s 15th general convention, winning the party presidency with 6,584 votes and defeating his rival Shyam Krishna Khadgi, who received 375. Thapa secured 93.9 percent of the votes cast for the presidency, compared with 5.4 percent for Khadgi.
The top 10 vote-getters among those elected at the convention include the party president, central committee members, a woman vice-president and joint general secretaries representing different categories.
Lalitpur Metropolitan City mayor Chiribabu Maharjan, elected a central committee member under the open category, ranked second with 5,330 votes, or 77.5 percent.
Basana Thapa came third with 5,193 votes, or 74 percent, followed by Hariprabha Khadgi, elected as a woman central committee member from Bagmati Province, with 5,126 votes, or 73.8 percent.
Pratima Gautam, elected as the woman joint general secretary, ranked fifth with 5,116 votes, or 72.9 percent. Nishcal Rai, elected as an open-category central committee member, came sixth with 4,956 votes, or 72 percent.
Prakash Rasaili ‘Snehi’, elected as the Dalit joint general secretary, ranked eighth with 4,803 votes. Tirtha Lama, elected as a Janajati central committee member, received 4,853 votes, according to the results.
Indra Bahadur Baniya, elected as an open-category central committee member, ranked ninth with 4,732 votes, or 68.8 percent. Engineer Subas Poudel, elected as a youth central committee member representing under-35s from Gandaki Province, completed the top 10 with 4,549 votes, or 65.8 percent.
Sixty-nine women elected to Congress central committee, all through reserved quotas
The Nepali Congress has elected 69 women to its newly formed central committee, but none won a seat outside positions reserved for women, highlighting the limits of their representation in the party leadership.
Of the 231 positions contested during the party’s 15th general convention, women won 69, accounting for 29.87 percent. They include three office-bearers and 66 central committee members. The party’s statute guarantees women at least one third representation at all levels of its committees.
The party reserved one position each for women among its vice-presidents, general secretaries and joint general secretaries. Pushpa Bhusal, Dila Sangraula Pant and Pratima Gautam won those positions, respectively. Sangraula became the first woman general secretary in the party’s history.
Although the newly elected committee under Thapa appears more inclusive, bringing together women and representatives of various ethnic, regional and professional backgrounds, women failed to win any of the 12 candidacies for non-reserved positions.
The 66 women elected as central committee members came through reserved seats across different categories. These include 15 from the women’s open category, eight each from indigenous nationalities and Khas-Arya communities, five each from Madheshi and Dalit communities, and two each from Tharu and Muslim communities.
Two women each were elected from professional and overseas Nepali liaison committees. One each represents workers, disadvantaged regions and Kathmandu Valley. Seven women under 35 were elected through provincial youth categories, while another seven won women’s seats allocated across the provinces.
The Congress central committee has 297 members, including 231 elected members and 66 nominated by the party president. Under the party statute, women must make up at least one-third of the committee. With 69 women elected, Thapa must nominate at least 30 more women to reach the required 99.
Newly elected General Secretary Sangraula said women’s presence across communities and senior leadership positions was encouraging.
“Having women represented from the highest levels of office bearers to every community is positive in itself,” she said. “At least 33 percent women’s participation in the central committee is mandatory. If the election does not produce that number, the president still has the option of nominating members.”