By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Dec. 16: The Central Working Committee meeting of the main opposition party, the Nepali Congress, held on Sunday concluded without discussing the scheduled agendas of the party after the Ram Chandra Paudel-led faction boycotted it.
The meeting called at the party central office in Sanepa was chaired by party president Sher Bahadur Deuba, The Paudel faction boycotted the meeting after the establishment denied making public schedule of the 14th general convention of the party.
Although party president Deuba tried to woo leader Paudel by visiting him at his residence on Saturday, the latter did not give up its stance and boycotted the meeting on Sunday.
Rivalry between the two factions has heightened as the 14th general convention of the party is approaching. The establishment has been trying to defer the proposed convention to consolidate power, and the Paudel faction is ready to do so only if the establishment makes public the schedule of the general convention.
Party president Deuba has become unpopular in the mass due to his controversial move during the local elections in 2017, and his popularity dwindled further after the party faced a humiliating defeat in the elections to the House of Representatives and the State Assemblies. The rival faction, immediately after the 2017 elections asked Deuba to step down on moral ground, which he has denied. Since then the differences between the factions have deepened, which culminated in the boycott of Sunday meeting by Paudel faction.
Due to boycott of the Paudel-led faction, only 45 of the 85 central committee members were present in the meeting today. As

a result, the meeting did not take any decision that will have long-term effect on the party organisation.
In the meeting, party vice president Bimalendra Nidhi informed that the two factions were close to consensus following a meeting held on Saturday night. Party chief Deuba has given Nidhi the responsibility to forge consensus between the rival factions.
According to a press statement issued by party chief secretary Krishna Prasad Poudel, although the meeting did not enter into the main agenda, it took some decisions and made the party’s view public on four incidents happened within a few weeks.
On Thursday last week, party president Deuba had submitted nine different agendas, including expansion of party departments to 41 from existing 28, it the CWC meeting.
According to the press statement, the meeting decided to draw the attention of the government to the bomb blast in Dhanusha that killed three people, including a police inspector. The meeting also urged the government to ensure safety and security of the people and maintain sound security in the country. The meeting demanded formation of a committee to investigate into the blast.
Likewise, the meeting also drew the attention of the government to the increasing road accidents. The party urged the government to take stern measures to control the increasing road fatalities.
The party also drew the attention of the government to the growing incidents of human-animal conflict. The CWC meeting was adjourned till Monday at 1:00 p.m. at the party central office.
Likewise, the party meeting decided to express condolence over the demise of Mohammad Jaish Sahab Siddiki of Dhanusha Sub-metropolitan City-25. Siddiki had penned over 20 books on Islam religion and involved in various research works.