Nepali Congress faces mass exodus as hundreds of thousands fail to renew membership

Nepal's oldest democratic party, the Nepali Congress, is grappling with a dramatic drop in active membership, as evidenced by its ambitious digital membership update campaign. Hundreds of thousands of cadres have failed to renew their party status, revealing deep internal divisions and widespread disillusionment.

Jatashankar Sahani, a former Mahasamiti member, exemplifies the trend. He left the Congress for the Rastriya Swatantra Party, citing difficulties in finding opportunities and the prevalence of internal sabotage within his former party. His departure is one of thousands contributing to the nosedive in active membership, a stark contrast to the approximately 850,000 active members recorded during the 14th General Convention.

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It became increasingly difficult to find opportunities within the Congress. There were too many opponents inside the party itself. Even if someone managed to secure a poll ticket, there was always the risk of sabotage from within. That is why I left the party.

Party leaders acknowledge the significant shortfall in the updated database. Many members have either left the party entirely, migrated abroad, become inactive, or joined rival political factions. A substantial number of members aligned with former party president Sher Bahadur Deuba and senior leader Shekhar Koirala have also abstained from the update process due to ongoing factional disputes.

Sarita Prasai, a Congress leader, stated she intentionally refused to update her membership to pressure the leadership into fostering unity. She criticized the leadership for focusing on attracting members from other parties while neglecting internal cohesion. This sentiment reflects broader dissatisfaction among cadres who opposed the party's special convention in January, highlighting a critical need for the current leadership to address internal conflicts and rebuild trust among its members.

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I have not updated my membership because I want the leadership to feel pressure. The leadership is trying to bring people from other parties into the Congress but is not serious about uniting leaders already inside the party.