On October 28, Nepal elected 54-year-old Bidya Devi Bhandari as its first female head of state -- the president of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.
The office was created after the country became a republic in 2008. She is the second elected president of Nepal since the monarchy was abolished in 2008.
After 240 years of Hindu monarchy, Nepal became a secular republic in 2008. Ms Bhandari belongs to the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-ML). She is now included in the list of female heads of state/governments of other South Asian countries.
In 2015, Nepal introduced its new constitution, which made way for an increase in quotas for including more women in parliament and more female members in government committees.
These measures had long been demanded by social activists and women’s rights activists, as the rights of women were largely ignored in Nepal before its current revelation -- needless to say, Nepal’s new constitution and the election of a woman for its highest office has been a long time coming for the nation’s women.
However, as per the constitution of Nepal, the president is merely the ceremonial head, while the prime minister is the head of the government in proper.
In Nepal, there are few prominent female political leaders, since women mainly work at home and in the farms.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari started her political career as a student. In 1970, she joined the Nepal Leftist Student Union. In 1980, she received membership in the CPN-ML.
She was married to famous communist leader Madan Kumar Bhandari. After her marriage, she left politics and settled for a life as homemaker.
In 1993, her husband was killed in a car crash, an incident still shrouded in mystery, as it had no eyewitnesses and had largely remained unexplained. After the death of her husband, upon request from her one-time political colleagues, Bidya Devi entered politics again.
She slowly rose through the ranks in her political party, and occupied the positions of defence minister and minister of environment and population. She also played an active role in the demonstrations against King Gyanendra’s authoritarian rule.
She rose to further prominence after the fall of authoritarian rule in Nepal in 2008. Before being elected as president, she was the vice chairperson of CPN (UML). She defeated Nepali Congress leader Kul Bahadur Gurung in the presidential election.
Bidya Devi Bhandari’s victory came 12 days after Onsari Gharti Magar of UCPN (Maoist) became Nepal’s first female speaker. She received 327 votes to Gurung’s 214, with 37 invalid votes.
The election of a woman as speaker of the parliament and head of state has drawn parallels with Bangladesh, where a similar situation is prevalent.
Bidya Devi Bhandari is a devoted women’s rights activist and had been the head of her party’s women’s cell for more than 10 years. She was also the leader of the All Women Nepal Association.
Over the years, she struggled to prepare a powerful base for women and help lift the status of women from where they have been neglected for centuries.
She made her voice heard in pleading for a new constitution and struggled hard to push through legislation reforms for 33% women members in parliament.
She also lobbied hard for women to be included in all government committees. The people of Nepal have hailed her assumption of position as president, something they consider a milestone in the country’s march forward to progress.
Ms Bhandari has promised to champion the rights of the minority and the rights of the women in her nation.
Feminists and leftists the world over are increasingly celebrating her victory, celebrating the fact that, finally, Nepal now has a credible, moral leader who can see the nation through to its next frontier of progress and development.