Bidya Devi Bhandari

Bidya Devi Bhandari
विद्यादेवी भण्डारी
Bhandari in 2019
2nd President of Nepal
In office
29 October 2015 – 13 March 2023
Prime MinisterKP Sharma Oli
Sher Bahadur Deuba
Pushpa Kamal Dahal
Vice PresidentParmanand Jha
Nanda Kishor Pun
Deputy Prime Ministers
Preceded byRam Baran Yadav
Succeeded byRam Chandra Poudel
Minister of Defence
In office
25 May 2009 – 6 February 2011
PresidentRam Baran Yadav
Prime MinisterMadhav Kumar Nepal
Preceded byRam Bahadur Thapa
Succeeded byBijay Kumar Gachhadar
Minister for Environment and Population
In office
25 March 1997 – 7 October 1997
MonarchKing Birendra
Prime MinisterLokendra Bahadur Chand
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
November 1994 – April 2008
Preceded byDaman Nath Dhungana
Succeeded byJhakku Prasad Subedi
ConstituencyKathmandu–2
In office
January 1994 – August 1994
Preceded byMadan Bhandari
Succeeded byMan Mohan Adhikari
ConstituencyKathmandu–1
Member of the Constituent Assembly / Legislature Parliament
In office
28 May 2008 – 28 October 2015
ConstituencyParty list
Personal details
Born
Bidya Pandey

(1961-06-19) 19 June 1961 (age 63)
Mane Bhanjyang, Bhojpur, Kingdom of Nepal
(present day Mane Bhanjyang, Ramprasadrai Rural Municipality, Bhojpur, Koshi Province, Nepal
Political partyCommunist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist)[1] (until 2015)
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1982; died 1993)​
Children2
Parent(s)Ram Bahadur Pandey (father)
Mithila Pandey (mother)
EducationBidhdhodaya Higher Secondary School, Bhojpur
Alma materTribhuvan University (BA)

Bidya Devi Bhandari (Nepali: विद्यादेवी भण्डारी, pronounced [bid̚djadebi bʱʌɳɖaɾi]; born 19 June 1961) is a Nepali former politician who served as the second president of Nepal from 2015 to 2023. She formerly served as the minister of defence and minister of environment and population.

She is the first woman to hold the presidential office in the country.[2][3] She served as the vice-chairperson of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) and was the chair of the All Nepal Women's Association before being elected president.[4][5][6] Bhandari previously served as the Minister of Defence, the first woman to hold the office, from 2009 to 2011.[7][8][9] She also served as the Minister of Environment and Population in 1997, and has been an active campaigner for environmental awareness and women's rights in Nepal.[10] In June 2017, she visited the headquarters of the International Union for Conservation of Nature in Gland, Switzerland and met with the director general Inger Andersen to discuss enhanced collaboration on nature conservation and sustainable development.[11] In 2016, Forbes placed her at number 52 on its list of the world's 100 most powerful women. She was dropped off the list in 2017.[5]

  1. ^ "Profile of Right Honourable President Bidya Devi Bhandari". Office of the President of Nepal. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  2. ^ "Nepal gets first woman President". The Hindu. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  3. ^ "Bidya Devi Bhandari elected first woman President of Nepal". Kantipur News. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  4. ^ "Who is Bidya Devi Bhandari?". Himalayan News. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Bidya Devi Bhandari". Forbes. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  6. ^ "The Himalayan Times: Oli elected UML chairman mixed results in other posts – Detail News: Nepal News Portal". The Himalayan Times. 15 July 2014. Archived from the original on 17 July 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  7. ^ "Nepali Times | The Brief » Blog Archive » Enemies within". nepalitimes.com. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  8. ^ "Women of Nepal". wwj.org.np. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  9. ^ "Related News | Bidya Bhandari". ekantipur.com. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  10. ^ "Who is Bidya Devi Bhandari? What are the 10 things you need to know about her?".
  11. ^ "President of Nepal visits IUCN to strengthen future collaboration". 16 June 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2018.