Kathmandu, June 26
Nearly half of the elected central committee members of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) are women.
Of the 99 elected central committee members, 49 are women, representing 49.49 percent.
Thursday’s election saw 384 candidates in the running. According to the results announced that night, men and women were elected to the central committee in nearly equal numbers.
Under the party’s statutes, 99 central committee members are elected. The party chairperson will nominate the remaining 51. All elected central committee members from Bagmati Province are women.
Nepal’s constitution and the Political Parties Act require at least 33 percent women’s representation in every party committee.
The fact that women won more than 75 percent of the geographic seats and around 40 percent of the open competitive seats signals a strong assertion of women’s leadership at the heart of the party’s policymaking.
Since RSP’s full central committee is set to have 158 members, the question of how the party will balance overall ethnic and regional inclusivity in nominating the remaining 51 members has become a subject of interest.
The 49 women elected to RSP’s central committee:
- Sobita Gautam
- Tosima Karki
- Ranju Darshana
- Nisha Dangi
- Indira Rana Magar
- Rima Bishwokarma
- Samikchya Baskota
- Gita Chaudhary
- Lima Adhikari
- Prakriti Dhakal
- Tika Sangroula
- Kranti Shikha Dhital
- Jamuna Sharma
- Sushila Karki Pokhrel
- Ashika Tamang
- Anushka Shrestha
- Nisha Shrestha
- Karishma Kathariya
- Julie Yadav
- Kamini Chaudhary
- Sabina BK
- Khima BK
- Saminna Miya
- Nisha Mehta
- Shobha Karki
- Kalpana Thapa
- Sujata Tamang
- Sushma Basnet
- Sunita Kumari Chaudhary
- Namita Yadav
- Manju Singh
- Prabha Dhakal
- Bidushi Rana
- Aakanksha Pokhrel
- Anita Shrestha
- Parbati Thapa
- Pabitra Thapa
- Bishnu Kumari Gurung
- Kalpana Pandey
- Sangeeta Dhakal
- Sharmila Khanal
- Gyanu Paudel
- Sita Badi
- Binita Kathayat
- Tashi Lhazom
- Menuka Shahi
- Janika Joshi
- Chandra Ayer Chandani
