Bidya Devi Bhandari elected Nepal's first female president

CPN-UML Leader Bidya Devi Bhandari has been elected the first female and second President of Federal Democratic Republic Nepal, defeating Nepali Congress veteran leader Kul Bahadur Gurung.
During the election held at the Legislature-Parliament building on Wednesday, Bhandari garnered 327 votes, 28 more than 299 votes that she needed to be elected as the President.
Gurung, however, accumulated 214 votes. Eight votes were declared invalid. Total 549 members had cast their votes in the election.

Bhandari's Biography :  Born in June, 1961, in Manebhanjyang of Bhojpur, Bhandari had joined student politics in her early young age. ​ Bhandari, wife of charismatic communist leader Madan Bhandari, was active in politics since her school days. She, however, came to limelight after untimely demise of her husband in a road accident. She was elected twice in parliamentary elections in 1994 and 1999 defeating the then Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai and Damanath Dhungana respectively. Bidhya, however, lost during the 2008 Constituent Assembly (CA) poll. She held the post of Defence Minister in Madhav Kumar Nepal led Cabinet. The party elected her under the proportional electoral system in the second CA elections in 2013. According to the details provided by the CPN-UML, Bhandari joined politics as an activist of then Youth League of CPN (ML) in 2035 BS, from Bhojpur. Bhandari played a role as an In-charge for Eastern Zone Committee of ANNFSU from 2036 to 2044 BS. Her active political journey, however, started when she received party membership from the then CPN (ML) in 2037. After completing her school level study, Bhandari was enrolled in Mahendra Morang Adrsha Multiple Campus where she was elected as a Treasurer for Federation of Students’ Union (FSU). Also, she played a pivotal role as a chairperson of women's wing of GEFONT in 2050BS to 2054 BS before being elected as UML central committee member in 2054 BS. Her influence in the party remained dominant when she was elected as Vice-chairperson of the party in the party’s eight general convention held in Butwal. Bhandari, who retained her vice-chairperson position in the party’s general convention, is considered as one of the confidant leaders of party Chairman and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.