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Gagan Kumar Thapa or simply known as Gagan Thapa (born 19 July 1976) is a Nepali politician who is the current General Secretary of the
Nepali Congress The Nepali Congress ( ; Abbreviation, abbr. NC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Nepal, political party in Nepal and the largest party in the country ...
. He is currently serving as a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives, Nepal from
Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...
since 2008, and is currently in its Parliamentary Committee on Education and Health. He served as the Minister of Health and Population of
Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
from 2016 to 2017. He was elected for the first time as a Member of the First Constitutional Assembly from
2008 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2008. * Electoral calendar 2008 * 2008 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 2008 Angolan legislative election * 2008 Anjouan presidential election * 2008 Republic of the Congo Senate elec ...
from proportional representation. From the
12th General Convention of the Nepali Congress The twelfth general convention of the Nepali Congress party was held in Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it h ...
, 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. He won for third time from the same constituency in
2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
.


Early life and education

Thapa was born in a conservative middle-class family. Born and raised in Kathmandu, Thapa graduated from
Siddhartha Vanasthali School Siddhartha Vanasthali Institute (SVI) is an academic institution in Balaju, Kathmandu, Nepal. It runs from primary school level to secondary high school up to university level courses. It was founded by Bhuwan Lal Joshi and Vijaynandan Joshi in ...
in 1992. He finished his
Bachelors of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
in Chemistry from
Tri Chandra College Tri-Chandra Multiple Campus () is a constituent campus of Tribhuvan University located in Ghantaghar, Kathmandu. Founded in 1918 by Chandra Shumsher, it is the oldest institute of higher learning in Nepal. Etymology The current name ''Tri-Ch ...
in 1998. He completed his M.A. in Sociology from
Tribhuvan University Tribhuvan University (TU; ) is a public university located in Kirtipur, Kathmandu Valley, Kathmandu, Nepal. Established in 1959, TU is the oldest and the largest university in Nepal. It offers 1,000 undergraduate and 500 postgraduate programs a ...
in 2003.


Political life


Student leader and democracy activist

Thapa was the president of the Free Student Union of
Tri Chandra College Tri-Chandra Multiple Campus () is a constituent campus of Tribhuvan University located in Ghantaghar, Kathmandu. Founded in 1918 by Chandra Shumsher, it is the oldest institute of higher learning in Nepal. Etymology The current name ''Tri-Ch ...
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. 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. He called for greater involvement of youth in the movement, and called on students to take to the streets to launch a decisive movement for the restoration of democracy. He was jailed on charges of sedition in 2004. 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). He was declared a
Prisoner of Conscience A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...
by
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
. 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, 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. Following immense international pressure, Thapa was released in August 2005. The same month, Thapa announced his candidacy for the President of the
Nepal Student Union Nepal Students' Union ( NSU) is the largest student political wings in Nepal. The Nepal Student's Union represents the Nepali Congress. During the autocratic King's rule (''Panchayati Byawastha''), the union played a major role in unifying stud ...
(NSU), the student wing of the Nepal Congress Party (NC). Thapa was excluded from the race by Nepal Congress Party President,
Girija Prasad Koirala Nepal Ratna Girija Prasad Koirala ( ; 4 July 1924 – 20 March 2010), affectionately known as Girija Babu, was a Nepalese politician. He headed the Nepali Congress and served as the Prime Minister of Nepal on four occasions: from 1991 to 1994, ...
, 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 In January 2006, Thapa urged the youth to boycott the municipal polls. The democracy movement succeeded in April. In May, he called for leaders of political parties to make public their personal property. Thapa was seen as an advocate of peaceful protests. On 2 July 2006, Thapa in an interview with
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
on the fifth anniversary of
Nepalese royal massacre The Nepalese royal massacre occurred on the night of 1 June 2001, at the Narayanhiti Palace in Kathmandu, the residence of the House of Shah, the Shah dynasty, royal family of Nepal. During a private gathering of the royal family, Crown Princ ...
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." He also continued advocate for the abolition of monarchy throughout 2006. 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".


Constituent Assembly member (2008 - 2013)

Gagan Thapa was elected to the First Constituent Assembly (CA) under the party-list proportional representation system from
Nepali Congress The Nepali Congress ( ; Abbreviation, abbr. NC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Nepal, political party in Nepal and the largest party in the country ...
. 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.


Member of Legislature Parliament (2013 - 2017)

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) CPN may refer to: * Calpine Corporation, New York Stock Exchange symbol CPN * ''Carnivorous Plant Newsletter'' * Carpinteria (Amtrak station), California, Amtrak station code CPN * Caspian Airlines (Iran), ICAO airline designator ''CPN'' * Celiac ...
(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. 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. 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 Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number) *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album), 2007 * ''15'' (Phatfish album), 2008 * ...
and the Terai unrest, right after the 2015 Earthquake. He condemned the blockade imposed by India, terming it "an inhuman move". In December 2013, Thapa endorsed the campaign "No Thanks, I Carry My Own Bag".


Livable Kathmandu Campaign

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


Minister of Health (2016 - 2017)

On 26 August 2016, Thapa was sworn into office as the Minister for Health by President
Bidhya Devi Bhandari Bidya Devi Bhandari (, ; born 19 June 1961) is a Nepali former politician who served as the second president of Nepal from 2015 to 2023. She formerly served as the minister of defence and minister of environment and population. She is the fir ...
.


Member of Parliament (2017 - Present)

Thapa was elected as a Member of Parliament in the
2017 Nepalese Legislative Election General elections were held in Nepal in two phases on 26 November and 7 December 2017 to elect the 275 members of the fifth House of Representatives, the lower house of the Federal Parliament of Nepal. The election was held alongside the first ...
in December 2017 from Kathmandu-4 for the second time consecutively. He is a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Education and Health. 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. 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. 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." 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.


Intraparty politics


Bid for general secretary

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. 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. As a Central Committee Member, Thapa has called for a change in the
Nepali Congress The Nepali Congress ( ; Abbreviation, abbr. NC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Nepal, political party in Nepal and the largest party in the country ...
's leadership through a special party convention. Thapa also lead the party's central publicity and communication committee for the federal and provincial elections.


14th General Convention

Thapa was one of the candidates for the post of General Secretary in the
14th general convention of Nepali Congress The 14th General Convention of the Nepali Congress, in which delegates of the Nepali Congress Party re-elected Sher Bahadur Deuba as chairman, was held 13–15 December 2021, at Bhrikuti Mandap, Kathmandu. Similarly, the convention of the six P ...


Party reformation

Thapa has long expressed his desire for party reformation and has worked to that end for more than a decade, calling for the replacement of the general and active membership in 2015


Personal life

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


Electoral history


2022 Nepalese general election General elections were held in Nepal on 20 November 2022 to elect the 275 members of the House of Representatives (Nepal), House of Representatives. There were two ballots in the election; one to elect 165 members from single-member constituenc ...


2017 Nepalese general election General elections were held in Nepal in two phases on 26 November and 7 December 2017 to elect the 275 members of the fifth House of Representatives, the lower house of the Federal Parliament of Nepal. The election was held alongside the first ...


2013 Constituent Assembly election


References


Books

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External links

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World Economic Forum

Gagan Thapa
on Twitter
Gagan Thapa
on Facebook {{DEFAULTSORT:Thapa, Gagan Living people 1976 births Nepali Congress politicians from Bagmati Province Government ministers of Nepal People from Morang District Nepal MPs 2017–2022 Tri-Chandra College alumni Members of the 1st Nepalese Constituent Assembly Members of the 2nd Nepalese Constituent Assembly Nepal MPs 2022–present