Dwarika Devi Thakurani

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Dwarika Devi Thakurani (Nepali: द्वारिकादेवी ठकुरानी) was a Nepali politician, the first Nepali woman to be elected to parliament and the first woman to become a cabinet minister.

Career[edit | edit source]

Thakurani was elected to parliament in the first democratic election of Nepal, held in February 1959. She was a candidate from Constituency No. 66,[1] Dadeldhura District for Nepali Congress. She was the only woman elected to the House of Representatives (out of 15 that ran),[2] and jointly the first woman in the Nepalese parliament, alongside Kamal Rana, who had been appointed to the Senate.[3]

Following the election, she was also appointed deputy minister of Health and Local Self-governance on 27 May 1959 in the BP Koirala cabinet,[4] also becoming the first female minister in Nepal.[5][6]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. "Marching Ahead" (PDF). National Democratic Institute. Retrieved 15 December 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. Ahmed, Nizam (24 August 2017). Women in Governing Institutions in South Asia: Parliament, Civil Service and Local Government. Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-57475-2.
  3. Stéphanie Tawa Lama-Rewal (2004) Femmes et politique en Inde et au Népal pp92–93
  4. "Women ministers in Nepal". South Asia Check. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  5. "Oli speaking about Nepal's first elected woman parliamentarian makes three mistakes". South Asia Check. 19 December 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  6. Joshi, Bhuwan Lal; Rose, Leo E. (1966). Democratic Innovations in Nepal: A Case Study of Political Acculturation. University of California Press.


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