Kathmandu, 19 March (H.S.): In a stark acknowledgment of his party's resounding defeat in the House of Representatives elections, Nepali Congress President Gagan Thapa tendered his resignation on Wednesday, submitting it to Vice President Bishwa Prakash Sharma and assuming full moral responsibility for the debacle.

Thapa, who himself fell to Rastriya Swatantra Party's Dr. Amaresh Kumar Singh in Sarlahi-4—having previously represented Kathmandu-4—had been unanimously elected president at a contentious special general convention from January 11-14 at Bhrikutimandap.

That gathering's legitimacy remains under Supreme Court scrutiny, challenged by erstwhile President Sher Bahadur Deuba and acting head Purna Bahadur Khadka, amid factional schisms that precipitated the party's entry into the March 5 polls.Sharma confirmed the development on X, lamenting the move while noting that the Central Working Committee will deliberate its acceptance at a meeting slated for Friday.

Every senior leader and office-bearer suffered personal reversals, consigning Nepali Congress—reduced to 38 seats (18 first-past-the-post, 20 proportional)—to a distant second behind RSP's supermajority, precipitating this leadership convulsion.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar