Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Former Speaker Daman Nath Dhungana passed away in Kathmandu on Sunday. He was 81.
According to Senior Advocate Yadunath Khanal, Dhungana passed away while undergoing treatment at Frontline Hospital, Old Baneshwar, at around 2 pm. He was suffering from liver ailments.
Dhungana served as the first Speaker of the House of Representatives after the political change of 1990. He, however, retired from active politics after losing parliamentary elections from Nepali Congress in 1994. Although he made a comeback in politics by contesting the 2017 election of the House of Representatives, he lost to Mahesh Basnet of CPN-UML in Bhaktapur-2.
Also a senior advocate, Dhungana served as the General Secretary of the Nepal Bar Association and Chairperson of the Supreme Court Bar Association. He was also a founding executive member of the Amnesty International Nepal Chapter.
“Together with Padma Ratna Tuladhar, he played a key role in bringing then CPN (Maoist) to the mainstream politics,” right activist Charan Prasai said.
He is survived by wife Bhuwan Dhungana and a daughter.
