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Gagan Thapa

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Honourable
Gagan Kumar Thapa
MP
गगन कुमार थापा
General Secretary of Nepali Congress
Incumbent
Assumed office
16 December 2021
PresidentSher Bahadur Deuba
Preceded byShashanka Koirala
Minister of Health and Population
In office
25 August 2016[1] – 31 May 2017
PresidentBidhya Devi Bhandari
Prime MinisterPushpa Kamal Dahal
Preceded byRam Janam Chaudhary
Succeeded byGiriraj Mani Pokharel
Member of Parliament, Pratinidhi Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 March 2018
Preceded byHimself (as MCA)
ConstituencyKathmandu 4
Member of Legislature Parliament of Nepal
In office
21 January 2014 – 14 October 2017
Preceded bySuprabha Ghimire
Succeeded byHimself (as MP)
ConstituencyKathmandu 4
Member of Constituent Assembly for
Nepali Congress party list
In office
28 May 2008 – 28 May 2012
Personal details
Born
Gagan Kumar Thapa

(1976-07-16) 16 July 1976 (age 48)
Nepal
CitizenshipNepalese
Political partyNepali Congress
SpouseAnjana KC Thapa (2008-present)
Children2
RelativesArjun Narasingha K.C. (father-in-law)
WebsiteOfficial website

Gagan Kumar Thapa (born 19 July 1976) is a Nepali politician , who is the current General Secretary of the Nepali Congress.[2] He is currently serving as a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives, Nepal from Kathmandu since 2008, and is currently in its Parliamentary Committee on Education and Health. He served as the Minister of Health and Population of Nepal from 2016 to 2017.[3]

He was elected for the first time as a Member of the First Constitutional Assembly from 2008 elections from proportional representation. From the 12th General Convention of the Nepali Congress, became Central Committee Member of the Nepal Congress. He won the 2013 elections as a Member of the Second Constitutional Assembly following the failure of the first assembly to promulgate a constitution, serving as the Health Minister from 2016 to 2017. He won in 2017 for the 2nd time from Kathmandu 4.[4] He won for third time from the same constituency in 2022.[5]

Early life and education

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Thapa was born in a conservative middle-class family.[6] Born and raised in Kathmandu, Thapa graduated from Siddhartha Vanasthali School in 1992. He finished his Bachelors of Science in Chemistry from Tri Chandra College in 1998.[citation needed] He completed his M.A. in Sociology from Tribhuvan University in 2003.[citation needed]

Political life

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Student leader and democracy activist

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Thapa was the president of the Free Student Union of Tri Chandra College from 1998 to 2000. He was a Committee Member of the Nepal Students Union from 1998 to 2002, Vice President from 2000 to 2002, and its General Secretary from 2002 to 2004.[citation needed]

After the dissolution of Parliament and declaration of emergency by King Gyanendra, Thapa took a vehement stand against the royal regime and called for the establishment of a republic.[6] He called for greater involvement of youth in the movement,[7] and called on students to take to the streets to launch a decisive movement for the restoration of democracy.[8] He was jailed on charges of sedition in 2004.[9] On 26 April 2005, he and two other NSU activists were arrested but released on 5 May after the Supreme Court deemed their detention illegal. Thapa was immediately rearrested and served with a 90-day detention order under the Public Security Act (PSA).[10] He was declared a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International.[11][12] Following a Special Court order in July 2005, Thapa was arrested from the Singha Durbar Ward Police Station where he had gone to meet his colleagues,[13] and was subsequently interrogated by The Office of the Kathmandu District Government Attorney for his involvement in 'offense against the state' by chanting anti-monarchy slogans at a rally.[14] Following immense international pressure, Thapa was released in August 2005.[citation needed]

The same month, Thapa announced his candidacy for the President of the Nepal Student Union (NSU), the student wing of the Nepal Congress Party (NC). Thapa was excluded from the race by Nepal Congress Party President, Girija Prasad Koirala, on charges of being 'agents of the palace' alongside NC Central Member Narhari Acharya. During the 10th General Convention of the NSU in Pokhara, there were fights between the Koirala faction and the Thapa faction. Thapa accused the party leadership of preventing the closed-door session from being held to forestall adoption of a pro-republican agenda[15][16]

In January 2006, Thapa urged the youth to boycott the municipal polls.[17] The democracy movement succeeded in April. In May, he called for leaders of political parties to make public their personal property.[18] Thapa was seen as an advocate of peaceful protests. On 2 July 2006, Thapa in an interview with BBC News on the fifth anniversary of Nepalese royal massacre asserted that "..The Nepalese have begun writing a new autobiography for Nepal, an autobiography with a vision, philosophy and an ideology; a distinct autobiography with socio-economic and cultural harmony and prosperity; an autobiography displaying the life and history of the common men and women of Nepal."[19] He also continued advocate for the abolition of monarchy throughout 2006.[20][21][22][23][24] During the 12th National Convention of the NSU in 2007, Thapa pulled out his candidacy for the post of President, claiming that "The NC leadership has remained biased against me and therefore I have declared that I would not contest".[25]

Constituent Assembly member (2008 - 2013)

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Gagan Thapa was elected to the First Constituent Assembly (CA) under the party-list proportional representation system from Nepali Congress.[26] He served in the Fundamental Rights and Directive Principle of the Constituent Assembly and the Natural Resources and Means Committee of the Legislative Parliament.[citation needed]

Thapa won a seat in the Central Working Committee of Nepali Congress in the 12th National Convention held in 2010, receiving the highest number of votes.[26]

Member of Legislature Parliament (2013 - 2017)

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Thapa at Open Data Day 2014 giving speech on Open Data and policy making in Nepal

Thapa was elected as a Member of Parliament of the Second Constituent Assembly following election in November 2013, following the failure of the first CA. Thapa won from Kathmandu-4 with 22,336 votes against candidates Nirmal Kuikel of CPN (UML) (9,028 votes) and Nanda Kishor Pun (Pashang) of the UCPN Maoists (6,462 votes). He was also chairman of the Agriculture and Water Resources Committee.[27][28][29] He urged for the formation of a commission to settle issues of provincial boundaries with the mandate to demarcate provincial boundaries quickly, adding that the new constitution should be promulgated without finalizing the boundaries of proposed provinces.[30] Thapa also pushed the government to address the Madhes agitation by addressing the demands of Madhes, further blaming the government for promoting black marketing in the face of the 2015 Nepal Blockade and the Terai unrest, right after the 2015 Earthquake.[31] He condemned the blockade imposed by India, terming it "an inhuman move".[32] In December 2013, Thapa endorsed the campaign "No Thanks, I Carry My Own Bag".[33]

Livable Kathmandu Campaign

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Thapa started the Livable Kathmandu Campaign, which was an effort towards the sustainable development of the Kathmandu Valley.[34]

Minister of Health (2016 - 2017)

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On 26 August 2016, Thapa was sworn into office as the Minister for Health by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari.[35][36]

Member of Parliament (2017 - Present)

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Thapa was elected as a Member of Parliament in the 2017 Nepalese Legislative Election in December 2017 from Kathmandu-4 for the second time consecutively.[37] He is a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Education and Health.[citation needed]

While campaigning during the election, Thapa along with 10 others was injured when an IED exploded at Chapali Height in Kathmandu. Thapa suffered minor injuries to his head and back in the explosion.[38] There was a lot of outrage, both from Nepali Congress leaders as well leaders of opposition and other parties, directed at the government following the government's inability to figure out the perpetrators, given that Thapa's party was in majority control of the government at the time.[39]

Thapa was critical of the Information Technology Bill on grounds of it "curtailing the fundamental rights of people to freedom of expression and opinion, and was hence against the spirit of the constitution."[40][41] On 29 November 2018, Thapa had called for a civil disobedience against the 4 day odd-even traffic rule issued to manage the Asia Pacific Summit 2018 by the government. Thapa commented that the organization had a controversial history of accusations of mass proselytism as well as the illegal promotion of Christianity and the public should not suffer for such an unjust cause.[42]

Intraparty politics

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Bid for general secretary

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In March 2016, Thapa unsuccessfully contested for the post of the Nepali Congress Party's general secretary, competing against Arjun Narsingh KC (his father-in-law), and Shashank Koirala.[43][44] He was the only candidate who represented the youth among the 10 aspirants of office bearer positions in the country's oldest and largest political party.[45] As a Central Committee Member,[46] Thapa has called for a change in the Nepali Congress's leadership through a special party convention.[47] Thapa also lead the party's central publicity and communication committee for the federal and provincial elections.[48]

14th General Convention

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Thapa was one of the candidates for the post of General Secretary in the 14th general convention of Nepali Congress[49][50] from the anti-establishment faction led by Shekhar Koirala.[51][26] Thapa had publicized a 60-page document before the commencement of the general convention that consisted the party's programmes and policies for the upcoming one year till general elections and for the upcoming five years after the general elections.[52] He was elected along with Bishwa Prakash Sharma who represented the Prakash Man Singh camp. Of the 4,379 votes cast, Thapa received 3,023 votes while Sharma got 1,984 votes.[26]

Party reformation

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Thapa has long expressed his desire for party reformation and has worked to that end for more than a decade,[45][53] calling for the replacement of the general and active membership in 2015[54] He has called for a change the working style of political leadership in light of leaders inability to reach the aspiration of the new generation of Nepalis,[55] and called for the Nepal Congress to "lead the implementation of the new constitution" in 2016.[56] He has also repeatedly called for more involvement of the youth in leadership positions[57] and expressed his belief in the party as the "only defender of the country, able to move the country ahead by taking all the communities of the hills, mountains and the Tarai into confidence."[58] Thapa, along with other youth leaders, launched the "Nepali Congress Rejuvenation Campaign" in February 2018.[59] In 2009, Thapa had accused senior leaders like Sher Bahadur Deuba, and Girija Prasad Koirala of trying to run the Nepal Congress Party like a private company.[60] In 2018, Thapa further remarked that Congress President Deuba shouldn't be the parliamentary party leader as well, as the responsibilities of a parliamentary party leader would be hard to achieve if "one person has two important posts".[61]

Following from his pledge to transform the party during his bid for General Secretary in 2016, Thapa presented a 51-page report in the ongoing meeting of the Central Working Committee on behalf of youth leaders demanding an early general convention by amending the party statute through the Congress Maha Samiti.[62] Following months of discussions and debates of rival camps of the party,[63] the Nepali Congress Central Working Committee unanimously endorsed the draft statute with provisions that will ‘strengthen internal democracy, make the party more inclusive and address factionalism’.[64] Thapa remarked that the Party President Sher Bahadur Deuba had ignored the voice of Dr. Shekhar Koirala's faction after the General Convention as seen in the recent nominations in the Bagmati Province government.[65]

We are not bargaining for the post, we want party President to recognize the voice of the delegates in the convention and act accordingly, we want justice....Recent nominations and the party’s representation in the Bagmati Province government seem to abuse the mandate of the General Convention.

Thapa giving a speech in a program in ICIMOD

Personal life

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In 2008, Thapa married Anjana KC, daughter of Arjun Narsingh KC.[66]

Electoral history

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2022 Nepalese general election

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Kathmandu 4
Party Candidate Votes
Nepali Congress Gagan Thapa 21,302
CPN (Unified Marxist-Leninist) Rajan Bhattarai 13,855
Rastriya Prajatantra Party Thakur Mohan Shrestha 4,050
Result Congress hold
Source: Election Commission

2017 Nepalese general election

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Kathmandu 4
Party Candidate Votes
Nepali Congress Gagan Thapa 21,558
CPN (Unified Marxist-Leninist) Rajan Bhattarai 18,140
Bibeksheel Sajha Party Subuna Basnet 3,040
Others 797
Invalid votes 1,054
Result Congress hold
Source: Election Commission

2013 Constituent Assembly election

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Kathmandu 4
Party Candidate Votes
Nepali Congress Gagan Thapa 22,336
CPN (Unified Marxist-Leninist) Nirmal Kuikel 9,135
UCPN (Maoist) Nanda Kishor Pun 6,462
Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal Udhhav Paudel 3,263
Others 2,335
Result Congress hold
Source: Election Commission

References

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Books

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