Gagan’s Goal: Will His Dreams Come True While Surrounded by Factions & Sub-Factions?

by Pradeep Pariyar Thapa

Opinion: Gagan Thapa stands in the front ranks of promising young leaders, much like Rabi Lamichhane and Balen Shah. The only real difference among Gagan, Rabi, and Balen is that Gagan has been projecting dreams of good governance and national prosperity while holding key national leadership roles—as a lawmaker or minister—for at least 18 years, whereas in the case of Rabi and Balen, that period amounts to barely three years.

The current General Secretary of the Nepali Congress, Gagan Thapa, is one of those fortunate figures whose dreams never grow old and never quite get fulfilled, yet the public is expected to keep believing in them forever. For the younger generation, Gagan is that kind of leader whose dreams sell easily, but for which he is not required to be truly accountable. Since becoming a member of the Constituent Assembly in 2008, Gagan has continuously occupied the very platforms where constitutions, laws, and acts are drafted—Member of the First Constituent Assembly (2008–2012), Member of the Second Constituent Assembly (2013–2017), Member of Parliament (2017), and Member of Parliament again (2022). During this period, he also served as Minister of Health (2016–2017).

Seen this way, it is a bitter fate of the Nepali people that for nearly two decades—despite Gagan and his governments repeatedly being in power while the country slid backward and sank into extreme corruption—he must still be regarded and accepted as an “influential leader.” Yet, the thread of hope in him should not be cut just yet. Why? Because the statement he delivered yesterday at the opening ceremony of the Nepali Congress’s Second Special Convention, spewing fire against the party’s current status-quoist Deuba leadership, was powerfully oriented toward change:

“The Congress is not a party of slaves and corpses. It is a party of living people. Questions have not died within the Congress. … There is no ‘father figure’ here who, by saying ‘don’t speak,’ will make us stop speaking. Here, we are all equal.”

As General Secretary, this roar from Gagan is clearly directed at Deuba and other old, increasingly irrelevant leaders within the party. This time, Gagan has demonstrated that he wants to free this party—rooted in the legacy of B.P. Koirala, Ganesh Man Singh, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, and Girija Prasad Koirala—from the grip of Deuba-style conservatives and transform it into a dynamic political force driven by living, awakened Congress workers. Or will Gagan, in the name of change, end up merely indulging in his own factions and sub-factions?

Another important step associated with Gagan is his apparent endorsement of ideas that the Rabi Lamichhane–led National Independent Party (Rastriya Swatantra Party, RSP) has been implementing both in principle and in practice—such as selecting parliamentary candidates through primary elections, allowing proportional-representation lawmakers to be elected only once, and barring repeat terms. Just as relevant and commendable is the idea of not allowing anyone to become prime minister more than twice, which clearly favors political ethics and good governance.

Under the banner of a Special Convention, the decisive battle Gagan has initiated this time is a successful campaign for leadership change following the collapse of his party’s coalition government with the UML, energized by a Gen-Z movement. Regardless of whether the closed session of the Special Convention ultimately entrusts the party leadership to Gagan himself or to someone else, a Nepali Congress without Gagan at this moment appears almost unimaginable.