Gagan Thapa | The Young Turk

In mid-January, Nepal’s oldest party, the Nepali Congress, was in turmoil. A cohort of young leaders led by Gagan Thapa launched a mutiny against the party’s old guard, which refused to relent despite growing internal pressure.

Mr. Thapa then marshalled his supporters to convene a “special convention” of the party, a move that culminated in his election as party president. Now, the Nepali Congress heads into elections under the leadership of the 49-year-old, claiming that the party has undergone internal reform and promising to carry that change into governance if voted to power. Many view Mr. Thapa’s rise as the culmination of a long and often contentious internal struggle. For years, he was seen as a permanent dissenter — vocal against leadership excesses, openly critical of entrenched practices, and persistent in demanding structural change within the party.

His call for generational change grew sharper after the September Gen Z protests, which demanded not only an end to corruption and misgovernance but also a shift in political leadership — from ageing elites to younger figures. Mr. Thapa argued that if the establishment was unwilling to allow a generational transition through the party’s regular convention, a special convention was necessary to force change. And he did it.

Risen from the ranks

Born into a middle-class family, Gagan Thapa grew up in Kathmandu and developed an early interest in politics during his school years. He entered public life as a student activist during the 1990 political movement that restored multiparty democracy in Nepal. During the 2006 people’s movement, he emerged as a vocal advocate for the abolition of the monarchy.

Appointed to the Constituent Assembly in 2008 under the proportional representation system, he steadily consolidated his position within the party. Since 2013, he has won three consecutive elections from Kathmandu-4 to serve as a Member of Parliament. This time, however, he is contesting from Sarlahi-4 in the Madhesh plains, bordering India, and the party has named him its prime ministerial candidate.

“He has struggled his way to the top, but what also needs to be noted is that he has switched alliances multiple times,” says Chandrakishore, a political commentator. “Now, as the new leader of the country’s oldest party, his real challenges are only beginning.”

Mr. Thapa, a crowd-puller, has a keen sense of political timing and an ability to connect with masses. But the same loquaciousness that earns him praise has also become a vulnerability. Critics accuse him of delivering more rhetoric than substance. Though known for opposing leadership high-handedness, he is also viewed as selective in his dissent. On more than one occasion, he has chosen accommodation over confrontation.

In July 2024, when then party president Sher Bahadur Deuba joined hands with CPN-UML leader K.P. Sharma Oli to form a government — a move widely criticised as an unparliamentary practice because it brought together the two largest parties — Mr. Thapa publicly opposed the decision. Yet, he later chose to support the Oli government, accepting that he had little room to manoeuvre.

Mr. Thapa has assumed control of the party just ahead of the March 5 elections, widely seen as a litmus test for Nepal’s traditional political forces following the Gen Z protests that led to the fall of the Oli government, which had been backed by the Deuba-led Congress.

He takes over at a moment of widespread public discontent with established parties, even as new political forces gain traction. The Congress named him its prime ministerial candidate amid pressure after the Rastriya Swatantra Party, a relatively new entrant, tapped Balendra Shah — a popular figure among the youth — as its prime ministerial face.

Mr. Thapa now carries dual responsibilities: steering the party through a period of transition and delivering electoral success. “He may have won the internal battle, but his real test begins now,” says Chandrakishore.