Ex-minister Deepak Manange joins Congress's Deuba faction, made Manang convener

Former Gandaki Province minister Rajiv Gurung, known as Deepak Manange, has joined the Sher Bahadur Deuba faction of Nepali Congress.

Dr Shashank Koirala, convener of the convention organizing committee formed by the Deuba faction and a former general secretary of the party, formally welcomed him on Tuesday.

Koirala's secretariat said that along with joining the party, Manange has been made convener of the Manang district organizing committee for the upcoming convention.

Manange was previously elected as a Gandaki provincial assembly member from Manang as an independent candidate.

While serving as a provincial assembly member, he had held ministerial responsibility in the provincial government.

He later became active in the CPN (Unified Socialist) led by Madhav Kumar Nepal. After that party merged into the NCP, he had remained inactive.

In the past, he had worked in the Nepal Tarun Dal, Congress's sister organization.

When Deuba returned to the country on Saun 28, Manange had gone to the airport to welcome him.

This move comes as two factions within Congress are preparing for parallel conventions.

The establishment faction led by Gagan Thapa has decided to hold the 15th convention in Kathmandu starting Asoj 18, while the Deuba faction is preparing to hold ward conventions on Asoj 15 and a separate convention from Mangsir 21 to 23.