Rubi Kumari Thakur Becomes Nepal's Youngest Deputy Speaker at 26
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Kathmandu, April 10 (NationPress) In a remarkable development, Rubi Kumari Thakur, at the age of 26, has been appointed as the Deputy Speaker of Nepal's House of Representatives (HoR) on Friday, making her the youngest individual to ever assume this role, signaling a notable generational transformation in the country's political landscape.
A member of the lower house elected via the proportional representation method representing the Shram Sanskriti Party, Thakur received significant support from the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and other political factions. The RSP's nearly two-thirds majority in the lower house was pivotal for her successful election.
In a vote that saw 256 lawmakers present, Thakur garnered 229 votes, while her opponent, Saraswati Lama from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, managed just five votes, with 22 lawmakers choosing to abstain.
According to Nepal’s Constitution, it is mandated that either the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker must be a woman, with the two roles needing to be filled by representatives from different political parties.
On April 4, Dol Prasad Aryal, a leader from the RSP, was elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives after being the only nominee for the position.
Thakur was born in 2000 in Mujeliya, located in the Dhanusha district, and hails from a modest background. Her father, Sogarath Thakur, has been a migrant worker in Saudi Arabia but is currently on leave at home. She is one of six children in the family.
After passing the Secondary Education Examination (SEE) following Grade 10, she pursued a three-year diploma in civil engineering at Balara Polytechnic in Dhanusha. Reports from local media indicate that she subsequently worked for seven months at an architectural consultancy firm, earning a modest salary while supporting her family with part of her income.
Her venture into politics was largely unexpected, inspired by the political endeavors of Hark Sampang, the founder of the Shram Shakti Party. Thakur became actively engaged in advocating his vision.
During the elections on March 5, Sampang, a former Mayor of Dharan Municipality, nominated her as a proportional representation candidate from the Madhesi cluster, leading to her election as one of the youngest lawmakers from her party.