After the ninth general convention, ruling UML entered a new structure with new leadership. As UML was giving first priority to constitution-drafting, Constitutional-Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee of the Constituent Assembly moved forward with discussions on issues of constitution-drafting. As there was no agreement on important issues of the constitution, UCPN (M) formed an alliance which created further distance between the ruling coalition and opposition parties. UML, CPN (M), and RPP were embroiled in internal disputes. In the meantime, Constituent Assembly members demanded 50 million for their electoral constituencies.

Oli in UML leadership
As the date for ninth general convention was nearing, there was fierce competition for next leadership within UML. While senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal and standing committee member KP Sharma Oli had claimed the next leadership, chairperson Jhalanath Khanal expressed his desire to lead the party again. It was his intention to become chairperson again based on consensus instead of competing in the general convention. He expressed his desire to lead for the next five years if there was consensus. It was Khanal’s argument that there should be consensus on leadership instead of partisanship under Oli and Nepal factions. However, the possibility of agreement between Nepal and Oli as per Khanal’s wish was thin. After that, Khanal did not openly claim leadership but also did not clearly support either Oli or Nepal. Then both leaders claimed that Khanal was in his favour and said publicly as such. Though he did not give any hints of supporting either leader, at the end, he ended up supporting senior leader Nepal’s line of thinking. But Oli claimed that Khanal had promised to hand over the power to him several times.

Nepal and Oli faction accelerated its meetings not only with leaders from high levels but also activists. To prove their majority, they held large meetings to do their homework and publically listed the names of district chairpersons and names of officials from class organisations and numbers in their favour. Nepal and Oli faction also published the numbers in their favour from the districts. A day before the start of the general convention, Oli faction held a press conference and claimed that 49 district chairperson out of the 75 districts were in its favour. Oli faction was far ahead in claiming its majority. As there was sharp polarisation in the party, UML could not even nominate the five per cent representatives by the central committee. Khanal stated that the representatives could not be nominated because of the different lines of thinking within the party.