Gagan Thapa takes oath as Congress president, vows to regain public trust

Gagan Thapa formally became Nepali Congress president on Saturday, one week after winning the party leadership. He took the oath before other office bearers and central committee members because the party needed immediate decisions. The others are expected to take their oaths after Dashain.

Thapa said democracy, self-respect and social justice would guide him. He wants Congress to lead ideological debate and social movements. He also promised to rebuild public trust by focusing on citizens’ concerns and helping people during hardship. He rejected the idea of a miraculous transformation.

Instead, Thapa said his leadership would be judged through decisions, conduct and accountability. His central pledge is to make Nepali Congress the party trusted by the largest number of citizens. He also wants to preserve its historic legacy while making it relevant to a changing society and a new generation.

The article presents Nepali Congress as an established political party with a significant legacy and a founding leader, BP Koirala. It says Congress built its standing by addressing society’s concerns during Koirala’s time. Today, Thapa argues that the party must continue answering citizens’ questions while adapting to changing social expectations.

The party president leads this work. Thapa’s role includes setting priorities, making decisions, guiding cooperation or confrontation with political forces and institutions, and representing the party’s values. He also wants the president to encourage ideological debate and social movements rather than rely only on election campaigns.

The president therefore leads more than internal administration. Thapa says the office carries responsibility to party activists and the wider public. His success will be judged by conduct, public accountability, justice and the party’s ability to earn trust, including from citizens who do not vote for Congress.

Gagan Thapa won the Nepali Congress presidency by an exceptionally wide margin. He received 6,584 votes at the party’s 15th general convention. His rival, Shyam Krishna Khadgi, received 375 votes. Thapa therefore led by 6,209 votes, according to the figures provided.

The percentages reinforce the scale of the victory. Thapa secured 93.9 percent of votes cast for the presidency, while Khadgi received 5.4 percent. The gap shows that Thapa entered office with a very strong electoral mandate from convention voters.

That mandate gives him political room to pursue his stated priorities, including ideological debate, social justice and rebuilding public trust. It also creates high expectations. Thapa said the presidency is a responsibility, not a crown, and that his decisions, conduct and accountability will determine whether the confidence shown by party members produces meaningful change.

Judging Congress by decisions, conduct and accountability would make leadership a continuing test rather than a one-time contest. Speeches would matter less than how Thapa acts when choices are difficult. The party would need to show that democracy, self-respect, social justice and truth guide real decisions.

For example, Thapa said cooperation or confrontation with political forces and institutions would depend on Congress’s core values. Citizens could therefore assess whether the party stands for justice during challenging moments. Support would also depend on whether Congress helps people facing hardship, not simply on how many programmes it organises.

This approach could strengthen public trust if actions match promises. It could also expose failures more quickly, including failures noticed by people who do not vote for Congress. Thapa’s large electoral victory would not by itself settle the question of success; daily accountability would become the more meaningful measure.

Thapa sees Congress’s legacy as a record of responding to society, not as something frozen in the past. He refers to BP Koirala, the party’s founding leader, and says Congress established itself by addressing the concerns of people in Koirala’s time. That history gives the party values and responsibility.

The challenge is that today’s citizens have different questions and expectations. Thapa specifically mentions 18-year-olds, ordinary citizens and traditional Congress voters who moved away from the party. His proposed mechanism is to build a Congress capable of giving convincing answers to every citizen over the next four years.

This balance could determine whether the party remains relevant. Thapa does not promise a miraculous transformation. He says Congress must work honestly, encourage ideological debate and focus on citizens’ difficulties. Preserving its legacy will therefore mean carrying forward its purpose while changing how it engages with a new generation.

The supplied article does not provide the total number of women in the new central committee. It also does not state that 69 women were elected through reserved positions. Because those figures are absent from the provided text, the exact scale of women’s representation cannot be established from this source.

The article does identify women in leadership results. Pratima Gautam was elected woman joint general secretary. Hariprabha Khadgi was elected a woman central committee member from Bagmati Province. It also refers to category-based positions, showing that the convention included reserved or representative categories.

If the stated figure of 69 women and the reserved-position detail comes from additional reporting, it would indicate that women’s access depended entirely on those categories. That could highlight both formal inclusion and limits on representation in open contests. The supplied article, however, cannot confirm the number or support a firmer conclusion.

Political parties need clear ideas because democracy requires choices about how society should be guided. The article quotes Thapa saying that a party separated from ideas is not truly a party. Without principles, decisions can become short-term reactions, especially when leaders fear losing votes.

Internal debate is the mechanism that tests and improves those principles. Thapa wants Congress to become a leading force in ideological debate and social movements. Discussion can help members examine cooperation, confrontation, justice and social priorities before the party acts. It also keeps political leadership connected to changing public concerns.

Public trust is the practical result. Thapa says Congress should be judged by whether people can rely on it during problems or hardship, including citizens who do not vote for it. Clear ideas guide action, debate strengthens decisions, and trustworthy conduct gives citizens reason to support a party in a democracy.