Kathmandu: Communist leader Bidhya Devi Bhandari was on Thursday elected as Nepal’s first woman President by the parliament, weeks after it adopted a new landmark Constitution that declared the country a secular state.
54-year-old Bidhya, the Vice-president of CPN-UML and widow of late general secretary of the party Madan Bhandari, secured 327 votes against 214 votes of her rival veteran Nepali Congress leader Kul Bahadur Gurung. She succeeds incumbent Ram Baran Yadav who was elected as the country’s first President in 2008 after Nepal was declared a Republic following the abolition of a 240-year-old monarchy.
Bidhya is a close confidante of Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli, who was elected earlier this month and leads a coalition government, reported Asianet India.
The president is the ceremonial head in Nepal while the prime minister is the nation’s leader.