Himal Press 
Former President Bidya Devi Bhandari
KATHMANDU: The CPN-UML has nominated former President Bidya Devi Bhandari as Senior Leader of the party.
A meeting of the party’s Secretariat on Thursday decided to nominate Bhandari as Senior Leader. A leader who attended the meeting said, however, that she has not been given voting rights.
Bhandari resigned from UML after she was elected President of the country on October 28, 2015. At the time, she was the party’s Vice Chairperson. Bhandari served as President until 2023.
After serving two terms as president, she sought to return to active politics with the UML. However, party Chairperson KP Sharma Oli opposed the move, arguing that allowing someone who had already held the country’s highest constitutional position to return to active politics would be against the spirit of the constitution. Some UML leaders, however, argued that she should not be prevented from returning to active politics. After a prolonged dispute, Bhandari was allowed to renew her membership. With her nomination as the Senior Leader, Bhandari is set to return to active party politics after 11 years.
The UML Secretariat meeting also nominated seven leaders to the Standing Committee. They include Ishwar Pokhrel, Pradeep Gyawali, Dev Raj Ghimire, Shivamaya Tumbahangphe, Lal Babu Pandit and Kashinath Adhikari. Similarly, the Secretariat also nominated 28 leaders to the Central Committee.
Those nominated as Central Committee Members include Kashinath Adhikari, Dev Raj Ghimire, Bimala Ghimire, Shivamaya Tumbahangphe, Hari Ghimire, Prem Dangol, Pasang Sherpa, Narendra Bhattarai, Shanti Lal Mahat, Nanda Lal Devkota, Palten Sherpa G. Gurung, Binod Pandey, Pushpa Shrestha, Januka Simkhada, Kaushala Khatri, Mahmud Istiaq Rai, Pradeep Yadav, Dr Abdul Hussain, Bhawani Khapung, Deepak Saud, Jaya Gole, Babi Chamling, Shree Prasad Sharma, Dharma Niraula, Dhruva Raj Bista, Arjun Rai and Dharma Giri.
