Kathmandu, Jan. 12 -- Ignoring pressure and resistance from the party's establishment faction, the special convention of the Nepali Congress, called by general secretary duo Gagan Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma, convened in the Capital on Sunday.

The two-day-long second special jamboree was called with signatures from around 54 percent of general convention representatives. The statute of the grand old party makes it mandatory to call a special convention if 40 percent of the representatives demand such a convention specifying clear reasons.

Despite the statutory provision, party president Sher Bahadur Deuba had been reluctant to summon the convention. With the backing of 2,488 general convention representatives, who stood for the spec...