Kathmandu, Dec 19: The 11th National Congress of the Communist Party of Nepal–Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) on Wednesday concluded the election of its top leadership, electing new office-bearers and re-electing former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli as party chairman for a third consecutive term.
According to the party’s Central Election Commission, Prithvi Subba Gurung emerged as the highest vote-getter among vice-chairpersons with 1,737 votes. Bishnu Prasad Paudel secured 1,675 votes, while Ram Bahadur Thapa received 1,516 votes. Gokarna Raj Bista and Raghuji Pant were also elected vice-chairpersons with 1,368 and 1,258 votes respectively.
For the post of deputy general secretary, Lekhraj Bhatta secured 1,452 votes, followed by Raghubir Mahaseth with 1,368 votes and Yogesh Bhattarai with 1,348 votes.
Mahesh Basnet was elected party secretary after securing 1,544 votes. Padma Kumari Aryal, Chhabilal Bishwakarma, Sherdhan Rai, Hikmat Kumar Karki, Khagaraj Adhikari, Yamlal Kandel, Rajan Bhattarai and Bhanubhakta Dhakal were also elected to various secretary positions.
In the key leadership contest, KP Sharma Oli won the post of party chairman by securing 1,663 votes, defeating his rival Ishwar Pokhrel, who received 564 votes. The election recorded a turnout of 98.40 per cent, with 2,227 delegates casting their ballots and 36 remaining absent.
Polling began at 9:12 am on Wednesday and continued overnight until 6 am on Thursday. Despite the use of electronic voting machines, the voting process took longer than expected, extending the general convention by two days beyond its original schedule.
The Central Election Commission stated that the electronic voting machines were locked, checked, sealed and certified following the completion of polling. Vote counting was scheduled to begin after consensus among all stakeholders.
The convention witnessed intense internal competition, with Oli being challenged by Ishwar Pokhrel, who was backed by former President Bidya Devi Bhandari. The two leaders fielded rival panels for key positions, while several senior leaders reportedly shifted camps during the run-up to the vote.
A closely watched contest is expected for the post of general secretary between incumbent Shankar Pokhrel and challenger Surendra Pandey, amid differing assessments of the party’s recent organisational performance.
The political backdrop of the convention was shaped by internal dissent and declining popularity of the Oli leadership following his removal from state power three months ago. Leaders from within his own faction also contested independently, reflecting growing intra-party contestation.
Thousands of party leaders and cadres gathered in and around Kathmandu’s Bhrikutimandap area during the convention, with extensive campaigning through posters, pamphlets, banners and social media outreach.
