Nepal, Oct. 5 -- The Nepali Congress has opened its 15th General Convention in Kathmandu, but the party that carries eight decades of political struggle has arrived at the gathering deeply divided.

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Many had hoped the general convention would heal the wounds left by last December's special convention. Instead, leaders who stayed away from that gathering remain outside the current process. They are now preparing a separate convention under the same party name, statute, flag and election symbol.

The question facing delegates is no longer simply who will lead the Congress. It is whether the party can come together at all. At the centre of that question is Gagan Kumar Tha...