Bidya Devi Bhandari is a Nepali politician. She came into limelight in 2015 when she was elected as the second President of Nepal. After this she became the first woman to hold the post of President in Nepal. Previously, she served as the Minister of Defense and Minister of Environment and Population, Vice President of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist), and President of the All Nepal Women’s Association. Bidya Devi Bhandari served as the Defense Minister of Nepal from 2009 to 2011. He served as Minister of Environment and Population in 1997.
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Wiki/Biography
Bidya Devi Bhandari was born as Bidya Pandey on Tuesday, 19 June 1961 (age 61 years; as of 2022) in Mane Bhanjyang, Bhojpur, Kingdom of Nepal (present-day Mane Bhanjyang, Ramprasadrai RM, Bhojpur, Province No. 1, Republic of Nepal) . Nepal). His zodiac sign is Gemini. He completed his primary school education from Behereshwar Primary School in Nepal. In 1979, he earned his SLC (School Leaving Certificate) from Bidhyodaya Vocational High School, Nepal. In 1980, he completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in Humanities from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. According to Bidya Devi Bhandari, she was the first person in her family to complete matriculation. In a media interaction he revealed that his grandfather encouraged his parents to educate him. He said,
I became a role model for the women of my village and it inspired other parents to send their daughters to school.”
Reportedly, her grandfather and uncles started teaching her political skills when she was seven years old. His grandfather and uncle were associated with Nepal Students Union and ANNFSU as members. Once while talking to a media house, she had recalled that when she was a child, she felt very bad for poor people and she often wanted to eliminate this inequality from the country. He said,
I felt very bad when I saw some people asking for money, medicine or some old clothes to wear. I wondered why they were so poor and what was the reason for this inequality.”
Bidya Devi Bhandari joined the Coordination Committee (established in 1975) when she was studying in eighth grade. Soon after joining this committee, he was given the responsibility by the head of the committee to distribute party pamphlets in the villages to warn the local landlords.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 4″
Hair Color: Black
Eye colour: black
Family
parents and siblings
Bidya Devi’s grandfather’s name is Tilak Bahadur Pandey. His grandfather was a social worker as well as the head panch of his village. His father’s name is Ram Bahadur Pandey and he was the headmaster of a local high school in Nepal. His mother’s name is Mithila Pandey. He has two brothers and one of his brother’s name is Digendra Pandey.
Bidya Devi Bhandari with her brother
His cousin, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, is a well-known Nepalese politician.
Gyanendra Bahadur Karki, cousin of Bidya Devi Bhandari
husband and children
In 1982, Bidya Devi Bhandari married Madan Bhandari who was a famous Nepalese politician. Bidya Devi and Madan Bhandari met each other twice before marrying each other, once in 1979 and again in 1980 in Bhojpur, when they were attending political party meetings.
An old picture of Bidya Devi Bhandari with her husband
Madan Bhandari died in a car accident on 16 May 1993 when he was traveling from Pokhran to Chitwan to attend a party meeting with three of his comrades. According to some media sources, his car mysteriously fell into the Trishuli River and all the passengers in the car died; However, the driver of the car (Amar Lama) managed to save himself. Three days after the accident, the body of Madan Bhandari was recovered by the police from the banks of Narayani river. Ten years after the accident, the driver died under mysterious circumstances. This incident gave rise to conspiracy theories in Nepal at the time.
A statue of Madan Bhandari in Nepal
Once, in an interview with a media house, Bidya Devi Bhandari revealed that Madan Bhandari’s personality, political ideology and leadership qualities impressed her so much that she convinced him to marry her. He further said in the same discussion that this is not a matter of love at first sight. He said,
It was not love at first sight. I was nervous to face him. His sharpness and his ability to present various issues in depth touched me. I was sure that he was a different person but I did not know that one day he would achieve the post of General Secretary of CPN (UML).
Bidya Devi Bhandari with her husband and two daughters
The couple has two daughters named Usha Kiran Bhandari and Nisha Kusum Bhandari. According to some media sources, one of his daughters is a medical practitioner and the other works as a party worker for Nepal’s political party CPN (UML).
President Bidya Devi Bhandari talks to her daughters while returning from a temple in the Kathmandu Valley on Maha Ashtami in 2016
Caste
Bidya Devi Bhandari belongs to Brahmin community.
livelihood
Bidya Devi Bhandari joined politics in 1978 when she started working as a worker in the Youth League of CPN (ML) in Bhojpur. In 1979, she started working in the Eastern Zone Committee of ANNFSU as its in-charge and served in this position till 1987.
Bidya Devi Bhandari appointed as minister in Nepal
Bidya Devi Bhandari started working as a member of CPN (ML) in 1980. When she was studying at Mahendra Morang Adarsh Multiple Campus, she was elected as a student union leader. She started working as the chairperson of GEFONT’s women’s wing in 1993. In 1997, he began serving as a member of the Central Committee of the CPN (UML). Soon after her husband’s death, Bidya Devi Bhandari was appointed as the sitting member of the Kathmandu-1 constituency in a by-election in January 1994, and in these elections, she defeated her rival and former Prime Minister of Nepal Krishna Prasad. Bhattarai was defeated. , During the general elections of Kathmandu-2 constituency in the same year, he defeated his rival and Speaker of the House Daman Nath Dhungana. After this Bidya Devi Bhandari was appointed as the Environment and Population Minister of Nepal.
Bidya Devi Bhandari during a political rally
Bidya Devi Bhandari contested the general elections again in 1999 from Kathmandu-2 constituency and won. She contested the Constituent Assembly elections in 2008 and lost. However, after his party members followed the proportional electoral system, he was appointed as the Defense Minister in the cabinet ministry of Nepalese Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal. The same procedure was followed during the 2013 elections when he was re-elected following the proportional electoral system. Bidya Devi Bhandari was re-elected as the Vice President of CPN (UML) in the eighth general conference of the party held in Butwal. During this time, she came into limelight as a confidant of her party president and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
Bidya Devi Bhandari in her office
Bidya Devi Bhandari was elected as the President of Nepal by indirect election, which was held in the Parliament of Nepal on 28 October 2015. She won the election by defeating Nepali Congress leader Kul Bahadur Gurung, who got 214 votes, while Bidya Bhandari got 327 votes. Vote. She became the first woman to lead a state as President. Bidya Devi Bhandari was again appointed the President of Nepal in 2018 and during these elections she defeated her rival and Congress leader Kumari Lakshmi Rai.
Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi along with BIMSTEC leaders meeting the President of Nepal Ms. Bidya Devi Bhandari in Kathmandu, Nepal on August 30, 2018.
controversies
- Political biased stance: Many opposition party members in Nepal often accuse Bidya Devi Bhandari of misusing her position because she was elected as the President of Nepal. He was accused of delaying government formation immediately after the completion of the 2017 assembly elections. He was accused of blocking the National Assembly Election Ordinance.
- Women’s rights: Bidya Devi Bhandari introduced a controversial ‘Property Bill’ in the Nepal Parliament in 2016, and earned the support of many women Parliament members of Nepal. Through this bill, she fought for the right of women to acquire their ancestral property. In the bill he said,
Through this bill, for the first time in Nepalese history, women got the right of inheritance in their ancestral property and the right to issue citizenship of the child in the mother’s name.
- In 2021, the Supreme Court of Nepal rejected an ordinance for citizenship, which was brought by the KP Sharma Oli-led government. However, this ordinance was approved by Bidya Devi Bhandari. Later, when the majority and the Deuba cabinet approved it, they refused to approve the same ordinance.
- Dissolving the Parliament House: In 2021, Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the House of Representatives against the Constitution of Nepal. As a result, he was accused of abusing his position by approving cabinet decisions. Sher Bahadur Deuba received majority vote from the member parliaments who collectively signed him as the Prime Minister of Nepal; However, Bidya Bhandari refused to appoint him as the Prime Minister of Nepal and started supporting the KP Sharma Oli led government by dissolving the Parliament. Later, a majority of the 146-member parliament challenged his decision in the Supreme Court of Nepal.
President Bidya Bhandari speaking to the media after registering her candidacy for a second term in 2018
- On 12 July 2021, his decision to dissolve the Parliament was declared illegal by the Supreme Court of Nepal, and in its decision also said that under Article 76(5) of the Constitution of Nepal, appointing Deuba as the next Prime Minister Will go. Minister of Nepal. The Supreme Court also accused Bhandari of taking steps against the Constitution of Nepal. On 13 July 2021, Bidya Devi Bhandari appointed Deuba as the Prime Minister of Nepal. Reportedly, he did not follow any court rules or constitutional articles while appointing Deuba as the Prime Minister of Nepal and he was accused by many opposition party leaders of forgetting his limits. Eventually, after some interval, Deuba became the Prime Minister of Nepal.
Sher Bahadur Deuba Prime Minister of Nepal in 2021
Facts/General Knowledge
- In 2016, the famous global magazine ranked Bidya Devi Bhandari at 52nd place in the list of 100 most powerful women in the world.
- Bidya Bhandari met Danish economist and environmentalist, Inger Andersen, at the International Union for Conservation of Nature in Gland, Switzerland in June 2017, where they discussed and collaborated on some issues related to nature conservation and sustainable development in Nepal.
Bidya Devi with Director General Inger Andersen
- Bidya Bhandari is a passionate environmentalist who often organizes many environmental awareness campaigns in Nepal. She frequently works on women’s rights issues in Nepal.
- Reportedly, Bidya Devi Bhandari’s political guru is UML leader KP Oli, who taught her political skills when she entered politics. KP Oli is known as the strongest Prime Minister of Nepal during his tenure. According to Bidya Devi Bhandari, KP Oli had advised her in every political matter. It was he who helped him to appoint him as Defense Minister of Nepal in Madhav Nepal Government in 2009 and President in 2015.
Bidya Devi Bhandari with KP Oli during the cabinet meeting.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn