Bidya Devi Bhandari Re-elected as Nepal’s President

CPN-UML leader Bhandari was elected as the first woman President of Nepal for the first time in October 2015.

Bidhya Devi Bhandari has been re-elected as the President of Nepal. 

(Photo: AP)

Bidya Devi Bhandari was re-elected as President of Nepal for a second term, on Tuesday, 13 March.

Bhandari was candidate of the ruling Left Alliance supported by two major Madhesi parties. She defeated Kumari Laxmi Rai of Nepali Congress, the main opposition party.

In the election held on 12 March, Bhandari won 39,275 votes, while her rival candidate Rai garnered 11,730 votes, Election Commission spokesperson Nawaraj Dhakal said.

CPN-UML leader Bhandari was elected as the first woman President of Nepal for the first time on 28 October 2015.

Bhandari, the widow of late communist leader Madan Bhandari, was active in politics since her school days. She came into the limelight only after the untimely demise of her husband in a road accident.

She was elected twice in parliamentary elections in 1994 and 1999 and is a former Defence Minister of the country.

According to PTI, Bhandari’s win can be credited to the fact that her nomination was backed by the ruling Left alliance of the CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre), the Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum-Nepal and other fringe parties. The report also mentions that with 148 lawmakers in the Federal Parliament and 243 in Provincial Assemblies, a total vote of 23,356 is commandeered by CPN-UML.

Her influence in ruling CPN-UML remained dominant when she was elected Vice Chairperson in the party's eighth general convention held in Butwal.

Bhandari, who retained her Vice Chairperson position in the party's general convention, is considered as one of the confidantes of party Chairman and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.