Sher Bahadur Deuba is a Nepali politician, who has been Prime Minister of Nepal 5 times. He has also been the President of the Nepali Congress. Coming from a middle-class rural background, he is one of the most well-known politicians.
Wiki/Biography
Sher Bahadur Deuba was born on 13 June 1946 at Ganyapdhura Rural Municipality-1 (Former – Ruwakhola, AsigramV.D.C.- 5), Dadeldhura district, Nepal. He did his primary school education at Asigram Primary School in Dadeldhura and did his secondary school education at Mahendra High School and Sitaram High School, Uchkot Doti, Nepal. He completed his Bachelor’s in Arts (Humanities) and Bachelor’s Degree in Law from Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal. He completed his Master in Arts, Political Science (Humanities) from Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal. He was inclined toward Congress ideology from his school days. He promoted multi-party democracy during the 1980 national referendum of Nepal. He went to London in 1988 and studied Political Science at the London School of Economics (LSE) under the program ‘research fee’ in 1989. It allowed him to use the LSE library and seek the guidance of a professor without the need of attending any classes. He studied under the counsel of Arab scholar Fred Halliday; however, he did not publish any paper. He received a scholarship from the Scottish International party while in London; however, when it was discontinued, he received money from Nepali people, did translational work for the Nepali service of BBC, and stayed at the Natraj Restaurant. He actively lobbied for the 1990 Nepalese revolution in London. He came back to Nepal after the 1990 Nepalese revolution. He was jailed on multiple occasions between 1965-2005, for a total time of 10 years.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 7″
Hair Colour: Salt & Pepper
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
His younger brother Prem Bahadur Deuba died at the age of 67 years on 17 May 2022 at Bir Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal after battling Lung Cancer.
Sher Bahadur Deuba’s younger brother Prem Bahadur Deuba
Wife & Children
Sher Bahadur Deuba married Arzu Singh Rana in 1994 and they have a son, Jaiveer Singh Deuba. Sher Bahadur was 45 years old, and Arzu was 32 years old at the time of their marriage. His wife and son are members of the Nepali Congress.
Sher Bahadur Deuba (extreme left) with his wife Arzu Singh Deuba and son Jaiveer Singh Deuba
Caste
He belongs to the Kshatriya Hindu family.
Signature/Autograph
Sher Bahadur Deuba’s signature
Career
Sher Bahadar Deuba was the chairman of the Far-Western Students’ Committee, Kathmandu, Nepal from 1965 to 1968. He formed the Nepal Students Union, the student wing of the Nepali Congress in 1971. Since Nepal King Mahendra banned all political parties in 1960 and established the panchayat system of government, Sher Bahadur Deuba campaigned against this and was jailed on different occasions. He played an active role during the 1985 Nepalese Civil Disobedience movement. From 1991 to November 1994, he was a Member of Parliament from the Dadeldhura District, and from December 1991 to September 1994, he was the Minister for Home Affairs of the Nepali Congress Government in the cabinet of prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala. In 1991, he was also made the political in charge of the Far Western region of the Nepali Congress.
Sher Bahadur Deuba giving speech in his younger days
From November 1994 to September 1995, he was made the leader of the Parliamentary group of the Nepali Congress and from 12 September 1995 to 12 March 1997, he remained the Prime Minister of Nepal. He signed the Mahakali Treaty with India on 12 February 1996. On 13 February 1996, the civil war started in Nepal. From 1982 to 1998, he worked as a convener in the Political Consultative Committee of the Nepali Congress. From March 1997 to 1998, he was a member of the Central Working Committee of the Nepali Congress Party. From April 1999 to July 2002, he was a Member of Parliament and won with the highest number of votes and margin of votes, and was again elected as a member of the Central Working Committee of the Nepali Congress Party. From December 1999 to October 2000, he worked as the head of the high-level recommendation committee for the resolution of the Maoist problem. On 26 July 2001, he became the Prime Minister of Nepal for the second time. He organised peace talks with the Maoists; however, they backed out and the attacks increased, he declared the State of Emergency in the country on 27 November 2001 and imposed the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Control and Punishment) Act. On 22 May 2002, Sher Bahadur Deuba requested King Gyanendra to dissolve the parliament and hold parliamentary elections on 13 November 2002, and the King complied with his request. Since Sher Bahadur did not consult his cabinet and party regarding the dissolution of Parliament, on 26 May 2002, the Nepali Congress expelled him from the party for 3 years. On 22 September 2022, Sher Bahadur formed a new political party the Nepali Congress (Democratic), and chose a water jar (Kalash) as its symbol. He was removed from the Prime Minister position on 4 October 2002 by King Gyanendra. On 4 June 2004, he was appointed as the Prime Minister of Nepal for the third time by King Gyanendra. He was removed on 1 February 2005 by King Gyanendra and put under house arrest. In April 2005, he was arrested on the charges of corruption in a link road project to the Melamchi drinking water project near Kathmandu, and on 26 July 2005, he was sentenced to two years in jail and fined 90 million Nepalese rupees by the Royal Commission on Corruption Control (RCCC) set up by King Gyanendra in February 2005. On 13 February 2006, he was freed from jail after the Supreme Court of Nepal ordered to scrap RCCC and declared its orders as invalid. In May 2006, he was elected the president of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) party, and on 25 September 2007, his party merged with Nepali Congress. In the 2008 Constituent Assembly elections, Nepali Congress nominated him for 2 seats, Dadeldhura 1 and Kanchanpur 4. He won both seats; however, vacated the Kanchanpur 4 seat. He was nominated as Prime Minister by Nepali Congress; however, lost to Pushpa Kamal Dahal. From June 2008 to 2012, he was the Vice President of the Socialist International Party in Nepal. He contested the 2009 Nepali Congress presidential election and lost. On 7 March 2016, he was elected as the president of the Nepali Congress. In August 2016, he made an agreement with Pushpa Kamal Dahal and sworn in as Prime Minister of Nepal for the fourth time on 7 June 2017 and resigned on 15 February 2018. On 13 July 2021, he sworn in as the Prime Minister of Nepal for the fifth time.
Sher Bahadur Deuba (right) taking oath as Prime Minister of Nepal for the fifth time
Controversies
Nepotism Allegations
On 12 February 2017, media reports claimed that Sher Bahadur Deuba put pressure on the government to appoint DIG Jaya Bahadur Chand as Inspector General of Nepal Police. DIG Nawa Raj Silwal was in the first position; however, Sher Bahadur appointed DIG Chand, who comes from the far western region to which Shere Bahadur belongs. He denied the allegations and the Supreme Court of Nepal put a stay on the appointment of DIG Chand as IGP.
Assets & Properties
Movable Assets
- Bank Deposits: 1650,739.75 NPR
- Jewellery: 10 gold coins, 13 Tola gold (two 2-tola chains; one 5-tola bracelet; and four 1-tola ring set with Diamond, Emerald, Coral, and ruby) (1 Tola = 11.6638038 grams = 3/8 troy ounce)
Immovable Assets
He has 57 ropani (4.3. bigha) of land in Dadeldhura in his father’s name and 10 bigha land in Kanchanpur in his brother’s name.
Note: The given estimates of movable and immovable assets are according to the year 2017.
It excludes the assets owned by his wife and dependants (minor).
Salary
In September 2017, his monthly salary as the Prime Minister of Nepal was 77,280 NPR.
Facts/Trivia
- He was the chairman of the Far-Western Students’ Committee in Kathmandu from 1965 to 1968. He was the founder and president of the Nepal Students’ Union from 1971 to 1980.
- He is the first Nepali person to receive an honorary doctorate from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.
- In an interview given by Sher Bhadur’s wife Arzu Singh Rana in 2005 after his arrest, she mentioned that due to the civil unrest, they had to change 14 homes in one decade.
