RPP Gen Convention: Voting begins (with photos)

KATHMANDU: Voting for the election for the new executive committee of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) began a few minutes ago. 

The schedule, which was expected to begin at 8 AM on Saturday, was disrupted amid disputes over the number of delegates. 

The election will elect a new 149-member executive committee including a chair, four vice-chairs and three general secretaries. 

Kamal Thapa and Rajendra Lingden have filed their candidacy for the position of chairman. 

Thapa, who is serving as one of three chairmen of the party and Lingden, who is only member of the federal parliament representing the right-wing party, registered their candidacy on Friday. 

Likewise, Buddhiman Tamang, Bikram Pandey, Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan and Roshan Karki have been fielded as the candidates for vice-chair from the Thapa panel. The rival faction, on the other hand, fielded Bikram Pandey, Dil Bikash Rajbhandari, Ram Chandra Raya and Lila Shrestha as vice-chair candidates. Pandey has been nominated as the candidate for the vice-chair position by both panels. 

Bhuwan Pathan, Bhaskar Bhadra and Kunti Shahi are in the fray for the position of general secretary from the Thapa faction. Similarly, Dr Dhawal Shumsher Rana, Shyam Timilsina and Rekha Thapa registered their candidacy for the general secretarial position from the Lingden faction. While Rana is serving as the mayor of Nepalgunj sub-metropolitan city, Thapa is a renowned actress in the Nepalis movie industry. 

The right-wing party has been holding its first unity general convention in the capital since Wednesday.