The 15th General Convention of the Nepali Congress is being held from 4 to 8 October 2026 in Kathmandu, Nepal. The convention began on 4 October at Khula Manch, where the inagural ceremony was held. The country's largest democratic political party, the Congress is set to select the party's central leadership, including the central office bearers and Central Working Committee members in presence of around 7,500 delegates elected from each constituencies and party wings. The party's general convention is electing more than 350,000 elected leaders from across the country. Only in the ward committee, around 296,000 are estimated to be elected.

Preparations for the convention began with lower-tier organizational elections, starting at the ward level across all 6,743 wards nationwide and progressing through municipal, provincial assembly, constituency, district and provincial conventions. Ahead of the national level of general convention, the party initiated nationwide active membership updates and digital verification across its 165 parliamentary constituencies. The number of active memberships, considered the foundation of the party, has also reached 870,000 this time. Party's active party members shall elect local delegates, alongside central leadership representatives, form the general convention electorate responsible for determining the party's future leadership.

Background Political context and internal reforms Following the 14th General Convention in December 2021, the Nepali Congress experienced growing internal divisions over party leadership, organisational functioning and preparations for its next general convention. General Secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma became increasingly critical of the party leadership and called for organisational and political reforms.

The 2025 Gen Z protests, which began on 8 September in response to corruption, poor governance, political privilege and a government ban on social media platforms, intensified pressure for political and institutional change. The protests resulted in widespread unrest, the deaths of dozens of people and the resignation of Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli, followed by the formation of an interim government. Within the Nepali Congress, the movement prompted renewed criticism of the party's political direction and calls for internal reform. Thapa, Sharma and other leaders argued that the party needed to respond to the demands expressed by the movement and undertake organisational and leadership changes.

In September 2025, party representatives began a campaign demanding a special general convention. The campaign was led by Thapa and senior leaders, and called for the party to restructure itself in response to the political developments and demands of the Gen Z movement. More than 40 percent of the party's general convention representatives, the threshold required under the party statute, eventually supported the demand. By October, 2,488 representatives, representing more than 54 percent of the total, had signed the demand. After negotiations between the party establishment and the reformist faction failed, Thapa and Sharma announced that they would proceed with a special general convention in January 2026.

The 2nd special convention of Nepali Congress was held at Bhrikutimandap in Kathmandu from 11 to 14 January 2026. It was convened by the Thapa–Sharma faction, while party president Sher Bahadur Deuba and leaders aligned with him opposed and boycotted the convention. The convention proposed dissolving the Central Working Committee elected at the 14th General Convention and establishing a new committee to serve until the 15th General Convention. It subsequently elected Gagan Thapa as president, with Bishwa Prakash Sharma and Pushpa Bhusal as vice presidents and Pradip Paudel and Gururaj Ghimire as general secretaries.

The special convention adopted proposals for extensive political and organisational reforms. These included internal primary elections for selecting party candidates, a digital system for candidate evaluation and recommendation, greater representation of women, youth, workers, professionals and persons with disabilities in party committees, and provisions for representation of different social and ethnic communities. It also endorsed a proposal to limit an individual to serving as prime minister for a maximum of two terms and called for corresponding amendments to the party statute and the Constitution. Thapa said the reforms were intended to respond to public dissatisfaction with established political parties and restore public confidence, particularly among younger generations.

The special convention resulted in a dispute over the legitimate leadership of the party. On 16 January 2026, the Election Commission of Nepal recognised the Central Working Committee elected by the special convention. The Supreme Court of Nepal subsequently upheld the recognition on 17 April before the 2026 general election, although it later granted a petition to review the decision in August. The dispute continued as the Thapa-led Nepali Congress proceeded with preparations for the 15th General Convention.

Following the special convention, the Thapa-led leadership introduced amendments to the party statute and began a new process of updating and distributing active memberships. The amended statute incorporated references to the aspirations of the 8–9 September 2025 Gen Z movement, including good governance, a corruption-free state structure, greater youth representation and political change. The party subsequently incorporated members of the Central Working Committee elected at the 14th General Convention who had not participated in the special convention, allowing previously divided leaders to participate in preparations for the 15th General Convention.

Delegate structure and representation The 15th General Convention involves the election of over 350,000 executive office-bearers across all administrative levels. The bottom-up election hierarchy progresses through several stages:

Ward level: An estimated 296,692 office-bearers shall be elected across Nepal's 6,743 wards. Constituency and district level: Each of the 165 House of Representatives constituencies elects 25 general convention delegates directly, alongside executive committees across all 77 districts. The 25 general convention delegated shall include representation of women, youths and minority. Provincial level: Delegates convene across the 7 provinces to form provincial executive committees. Central convention: A total of approximately 7,000 national delegates assemble in Kathmandu to elect the central office-bearers and CWC members.

Mandated inclusivity and youth quotas To ensure diverse social and demographic representation, the updated party statute enforces strict inclusion criteria: Women's representation: A mandatory baseline of at least 33% representation for women is enforced across all committees and delegation tiers. Youth allocation: Specific reservation quotas ensure that members under the age of 40 hold at least 10–15% of delegate and committee positions. Social cluster proportionality: Delegate seats are allocated proportionately across eight designated clusters: Khas Arya, Adivasi Janajati, Madhesi, Dalit, Tharu, Muslim, Disability and Backward Regions.

Central general convention delegates Approximately 7,000 national delegates shall assemble in Kathmandu to elect the central office-bearers and central committee members and portfolios.

From House of Representatives constituency In each House of Representatives constituency, delegates are chosen by the House of Representatives Constituency Convention from among its members.

Directly elected representatives

14 general delegates (including at least 4 women) 2 delegates representing workers, professional fields or subject-matter experts 3 youth delegates under the age of 35 (including at least 1 woman) 1 delegate representing persons with disabilities

Proportional representation

10 delegates elected on a proportional representation basis, matching the demographic composition of the constituency across inclusive clusters.

Ex-officio delegates

The President of the House of Representatives Constituency Committee. The Presidents of Rural Municipality and Municipality Committees within that constituency.

From sister organizations Delegates are elected through the national conventions of recognized party sister organizations as prescribed by party rules.

From overseas Nepali Janasamparka Samiti Delegates are elected through the conventions of recognized overseas janasamparka committees.

Nominated delegates

The Central President has the authority to nominate up to 75 active party members as Central Convention Delegates. These nominations shall prioritize representation for women, Dalit, Indigenous/Janjati, Madhesi, Muslim, Tharu, Khas Arya, persons with disabilities, backward regions, third gender individuals, distinguished experts/professionals, and martyrs' families or democracy movement participants

Election timetable +DateEvents18 August 2026Finalization of general convention timeline19–20 September 2026Ward convention22–24 September 2026Municipal and Rural Municipal Conventions26–27 September 2026Provincial Assembly constituency conventions28–29 September 2026House of Representatives constituency conventions30 September – 1 October 2026District and Provincial Conventions4–8 October 202615th Central General Convention

Central Committee Portfolio Election S.NNameVotesResultQuotaReferencePresident (1)1.Gagan ThapaOpen 2.Shyam Krishna KhadgiSenior Vice-President (1)1.Bishwa Prakash SharmaUnopposedElectedOpenVice President (4)1.Govinda BhattaraiOpen (2)2.Dr.Chandra Bhandari3.Dr. Chandra Mohan Yadav4.Deepak Giri5.Dhanraj Gurung6.Madhu Prasad Acharya7.Surendra Raj Pandey8.Jiwan PariyarInclusive (1)9.Farmullah Mansoor10.Binod Chaudhary11.Ranjeet Karna12.Sita Gurung13.Pushpa Bhusal GautamUnopposedElectedFemale (1)General Secretary (3)1.Amar Singh PunOpen (2)2.Udaya Shumsher Rana3.Gururaj Ghimire4.Nain Singh Mahar5.Pradip Paudel6.Shankar Tiwari7.Dr. Santosh Upadhyaya8.Dr. Sunil Kumar Sharma9.Dr. Dila SangraulaFemale (1)10.Mahalaxmi Upadhyaya11.Rita KhanalJoint General Secretary (15)1.Nanu Maya BastolaFemale (1)2.Pratima Gautam3.Ajaya Babu ShiwakotiOpen (2)4.Amrit Kumar Aryal5.Devendra Raj Kadel6.Dilli Ram Subedi7.Bikash Koirala8.Bimal Raj Chhetri9.Ramesh Prasad Dhamala10.Ram Hari Khatiwada11.Rajiv Dhungana12.Om Bahadur Gharti MagarIndigenous tribal (1)13.Taraman Gurung14.Dilman Pakhrin15.Prashant Man Singh Maskey16.Bahadur Singh Lama17.Narendra PaswanDalit (1)18.Prakash Rasaili Snehi19.Man Bahadur Nepali20.Ajay Kumar ChaurasiaMadhesi (1)21.Abhishek Pratap Singh22.Kiran Yadav23.Nagina Yadav24.Manish Kumar Mishra25.Mahendra Yadav26.Mukta Kumari Yadav27.Ram Paltan Shah28.Jagadishwar Narsingh KCKhas Arya (1)29.Dinesh Koirala30.Manoj Mani Acharya31.Shuha Ram Basnet32.Teju Lal ChaudharyTharu (1)33.Yogendra Chaudhary34.Surendra Prasad Chaudhary35.Atahar Kamal MusalmanMuslim (1)36.Abdul Sattar37.Dr. Firdos Alam38.Janak Raj GiriBackwarded area (1)39.Jiwan Bahadur Shahi40.Narayan Prasad Bhattarai41.Rajan Kunwar42.Ram Bahadur Bista43.Angelu SherpaMinorities or disabled (1)44.Nagendra Kumar Kumal45.Baba Krishna Sapkota46.Yogesh Gauchan Thakali

See also

Nepali Congress 2nd special convention of Nepai Congress

References