KATHMANDU : Women have secured 69 of the 231 elected positions on the Nepali Congress Central Working Committee, accounting for 29.87 percent of the elected members and falling short of the party’s mandatory one-third representation target.
The party’s statute requires women to hold at least 33 percent of executive committee positions at every level. The newly elected 297-member central committee consists of 231 elected members and 66 members to be nominated by party president Gagan Thapa.
With 69 women elected so far, Thapa will need to nominate at least 30 women from the remaining 66 positions to ensure that women make up at least one-third of the full committee.
Three women have also secured key office-bearing positions. Pushpa Bhusal was elected vice-president, Dila Sangroula (Pant) became general secretary, and Pratima Gautam was elected joint general secretary. Sangroula is the first woman in the party’s history to be elected general secretary.
Although the new central committee reflects broader representation of ethnic communities, social groups and professional sectors, no woman was elected from the unreserved category.
Women secured seats through the party’s reserved and inclusion-based categories, including Khas Arya, Indigenous nationalities, Madhesi, Dalit, Tharu and Muslim communities. Female representatives were also elected from provincial and youth categories, Kathmandu Valley, disadvantaged regions, overseas Nepali party committees, professional groups and workers’ representation.
The breakdown shows that 15 women were elected through the women’s open category, while eight each came from the Indigenous nationalities and Khas Arya categories. Five women each were elected from the Madhesi and Dalit categories, while the Tharu and Muslim categories elected two women each.
Two women secured seats through professional representation, and another two were elected through overseas Nepali party committees. The workers, disadvantaged region and Kathmandu Valley categories each elected one woman.
Seven women under the age of 35 were elected through provincial youth representation, while another seven secured seats through province-based women’s open categories.
Twelve women contested positions outside the reserved categories, but none won, highlighting the continuing challenges women face in securing representation in open competition.
Speaking about women’s representation, newly elected General Secretary Dila Sangroula said the increased presence of women in senior leadership and across different communities was a positive development.
She said the party’s statute clearly requires at least 33 percent women’s participation in the central committee and allows the party president to nominate women if the election results fall short of the required threshold.
The new central committee was elected during the Nepali Congress’s 15th General Convention, held in Kathmandu from October 4 to 9. The party’s nominations will determine whether the committee meets the one-third women’s representation requirement.
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