KATHMANDU, March 18: Nepali Congress (NC) President Gagan Thapa has resigned, taking moral responsibility for the party’s massive defeat in the House of Representatives election that concluded on March 5, a senior party source told Republica. He submitted his resignation to Vice President Bishwa Prakash Sharma on Wednesday.
The source said the resignation was submitted on the condition that the letter would not be made public. The source also said the CWC meeting scheduled for Friday will not be chaired by Thapa, and the meeting is likely to reject Thapa’s resignation and request him to withdraw it.
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Despite campaigning with the slogan “This time, beyond 100,” the NC was reduced to just 38 seats—18 under the first-past-the-post system and 20 under proportional representation. Thapa himself lost Sarlahi Constituency-4 to Rastriya Swatantra Party candidate Amaresh Kumar Singh by a wide margin, securing 22,831 votes against Singh’s 35,688.
The party’s special general convention held at Bhrikutimandap from January 11 to 14 had elected a new CWC under Thapa’s leadership. However, its legitimacy remains under scrutiny, as a writ petition filed by former president Sher Bahadur Deuba and acting president Purna Bahadur Khadka is currently under consideration at the Supreme Court.