Bidya Devi Bhandari

The Second President of Nepal 

Bidya Devi Bhandari, The Second President of NepalName: Bidya Devi Bhandari
Date of Birth: 19 June 1961
Place of Birth: Bhojpur, Nepal
Political Party: Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist)
Education: Bachelors in Arts, TU, Nepal
Parents: Late Ram Bahadur Pandey, Mithila Pandey
Spouse: Late Madan Bhandari
Children: Usha Kiran and Dr. Nisha Kusum

Bidhya Devi Bhandari is the Second President of Nepal sworn on 28 October 2015 and again re-elected for her second term in March 2018. She is the first woman to hold the office in the country, a month after the country promulgated the milestone new constitution in 2015.

She has immensely contributed to the line of women and marginalised people’s rights, playing a key role to end gender discrimination. Her consistent advocacy for the equal rights to women led to the 33 percent women participation in all state structures of Nepal at the present constitution.

She was the chair of the All Nepal Women’s Association for 7 years before being elected President.

She became the Minister of Defence during Madhav Kumar Nepal’s government in the year 2010-2012, again the first woman to hold the office. She was also the Minister of Environment and Population in 1997, and has been an active campaigner for environmental awareness and women rights concerns in Nepal

She was listed among the world’s 100 most powerful women at the 52nd position by Forbes in 2016.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the House of Representatives (HoR) as advised by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on 7 Magh 2077 (20 December 2020). PM Oli made this move to avoid internal conflicts within Nepal Community Party (NCP) and before a no-confidence motion could be passed.

However, the HoR was restored within two months in 10 Falgun 2077 (22 February 2021) when constitutional benches filed 13 petitions to Chief Justice and 4 additional justices at the Supreme Court of Nepal while 300 plus lawyers participated in support and against the cabinet decision in the discussion on the constitutional bench.