Astalaxmi Shakya Explained

Honorific Prefix:Honourable
Astalaxmi Shakya
Native Name:अष्टलक्ष्मी शाक्य
Office:2nd Chief Minister of Bagmati Province
Termstart:18 August 2021
Termend:27 October 2021
Governor:
Preceded:Dormani Poudel
Successor:Rajendra Prasad Pandey
Office2:Minister for Industry
Termstart2:18 August 2008
Termend2:25 May 2009
Primeminister2:Pushpa Kamal Dahal
President2:Ram Baran Yadav
Preceded2:Shyam Sundar Gupta
Succeeded2:Mahendra Raya Yadav
Office3:Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare
Termstart3:2004
Termend3:2005
Monarch3:Gyanendra
Primeminister3:Sher Bahadur Deuba
Preceded3:Renu Kumari Yadav
Succeeded3:Durga Shrestha
Office4:Member of the Provincial Assembly of Bagmati Province
Term Start4:1 February 2018
Term End4:2022
Constituency4:Kathmandu 8 (B)
Preceded4:Constituency created
Successor4:Uddhav Thapa
Office5:Member of the House of Representatives
Term Start5:1999
Term End5:2008
Constituency5:Kathmandu 6
Preceded5:Sahana Pradhan
Succeeded5:Hit Man Shakya
Office6:Member of the Constituent Assembly / Legislature Parliament
Term Start6:28 May 2008
Term End6:14 October 2017
Constituency6:Party list
Birth Date:1953 9, df=y
Birth Place:Jhochhen, Kathmandu, Nepal
Parents:Tirtha Bahadur Shakya (father)
Kulmaya Shakya (mother)
Spouse:Amrit Kumar Bohara
Nationality:Nepali
Cabinet:Astalaxmi Shakya Cabinet

Astalaxmi Shakya (Nepali: अष्टलक्ष्मी शाक्य) is a Nepalese politician and former Chief Minister of Bagmati Province.[1] She is first woman chief minister of Nepal.[2] Governor Bishnu Prasad Prasain appointed Shakya as the chief minister as per Article 168 (1) of the Constitution of Nepal after she was unanimously elected parliamentary party leader of the CPN (UML) on 18 August 2021, following the resignation of outgoing chief minister Dormani Poudel, as both the parliamentary party leader and chief minister. On 9th March 2023 she was chosen as a candidate in the 2023 Nepalese vice presidential election from Communist Party of Nepal (UML) .

First elected to parliament in 1999, Shakya served as the Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare from 2004 to 2005 and Ministry for Industry from 2008 to 2009. She also currently serves as the vice-president of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist).

Early life and education

Shakya was born in Kathmandu in 1954.[3] She was born on the eighth day of Dashain festival on the day culturally known as Astami, which is how she got her name. She was a second child among eight in a Newar family at Jhochhen, near Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square. After the completion of School Leaving Certificate in 1972 she joined a Chinese language class at Basantapur with her friend Sulochana Manandhar, who is now a writer. The two girls were often seen doing quite unusual activities for girls in those days – like riding bicycles or driving cars, swimming and doing physical exercises.

Shakya went to Ratna Rajya Lakshmi Campus for her further education but dropped out from what she saw as "bourgeois education" after four years. She started studying Chinese from which she learned about communism from her teacher Mahesh Man Shrestha, a leftist intellectual and a physician. She was quite impressed by the life and contribution of Mao Tse-tung and read articles on struggles by women activists in China during the revolution.

After having observed Shakya's suspicious activities her parents decided to arrange a marriage for her. With the help of her sister Sunita and her friend Sulochana, she made a plan to quit her home and devote her life for the party. In 1980, she ran away from home to avoid the marriage. After leaving her home, she joined the CPN-ML.

Political career

Shakya and her colleagues in a Chinese language class formed a group of around sixty youths to continue to work to change their society through activities, such as visiting villages to teach the people about communism and publishing booklets on revolutions and communist leaders. Without having connection with any political party they worked for three years. Her profession as a teacher helped her to participate in those activities as she could tell her parents that she would go to villages for her school work.

In 1980, she left her home, pretending to go to attend a feast at her friend's house. Before that her important books and documents had already been carried out. She had collected all her photos which were with her relatives and burnt them. She donated all her belongings, including expensive jewels, to the party and took a vow to obey the party directives. At that time the party in-charge of the CPN (ML) in Bagmati Zone was Amrit Kumar Bohara who later became her life partner.

Soon after she entered into her underground life, Shakya had to face a kind of test to prove that she was not an ordinary comfort-seeking city-dweller but could struggle for others' cause. Her party assigned her to work in Piskar village of Sindhupalchowk district, located in the eastern side of the Kathmandu Valley. She worked in Piskar for two years to establish the party organization. She stayed in the community of Thamis, ethnic minorities who live in the area. While staying there she lived in a cave for three months. She taught villagers reading and writing and about public health. Shakya spent eleven years of underground life in different places of the country before the multi-party system was restored in 1990. She had stayed in Panga of Kirtipur, in Tokha of Kathmandu as well as in Ilam and Jhapa districts in eastern Nepal. In 1984 she became a district committee member of Jhapa and in-charge of All Nepal Women Association in Mechi Zone. In 1988 she became a member of Mechi Zonal Committee.

Party roles

Shakya was given various responsibilities by her party to head Muslim Ittehad Organization, Central Law Department and Parliamentary Hearing Committee. She also played an important role to establish the women organization in her party. In February 1981 she, along with Gaura Prasai, Sushila Shrestha and others, organized a secret conference of women cadres of the CPN (ML) in Hetauda, where All Nepal Women Association was reformed to become more active. In this conference Shanta Manavi was elected as a president.

Shakya was elected as a member of House of Representatives from a constituency in Kathmandu in the 1999 Nepalese legislative election. She also became Minister of Women, Children and Social Welfare in the coalition government[4] and Minister of Industry and Commerce.[4]

Shakya was elected vice president of the CPN-UML party, from the general convention. She has been the SC member of JOMPOPS since its formation in early 2010 and was the first elected chairperson of the JOMPOPS platform.[5]

Shakya was also elected as a Constituent Assembly Member in November 2014.[5] In 2015, she turned down the nomination of Labor minister to give other politicians a chance to work at the position.[6]

Personal life

In 1981, Shakya married Amrit Kumar Bohara, who is now a member of Standing Committee of the CPN- UML. They both applied in their party for marriage and the party decided to grant them permission. She has two children, a son and a daughter. Both spent most of their childhood at her friends' houses, growing up separately in different places.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Asta Laxmi sworn-in as Chief Minister of Bagmati Province. 18 August 2021. Khabarhub.
  2. Web site: Asta Laxmi Shakya becomes first woman chief minister. The Kathmandu Post.
  3. Book: Shneiderman, Sara. https://books.google.com/books?id=GxtBDwAAQBAJ&dq=Shakya&pg=PT60. Varieties of Activist Experience: Civil Society in South Asia. 17 August 2010. SAGE Publishing India. 9789385985812. Gellner. David. en. Creating 'Civilized' Communists: A Quarter of a Century of Politicization in Rural Nepal.
  4. News: Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership. guide2womenleaders.com. 8 December 2016.
  5. News: Nepal: JOMPOPS SC member Asta Laxmi Shakya elected Vice-President of her party. dipd.dk. 8 December 2016.
  6. Web site: CPN-UML's Asta Laxmi Shakya rejects offer to be minister again. 5 November 2015. Kathmandu Post. 10 June 2019.