Krishna Bahadur Mahara
Krishna Bahadur Mahara is a Nepalese politician, belonging to the Nepal Communist Party (NCP).He was a prominent Maoist leader during the civil war. After the maoists entered the peace process, he was elected to parliament/constituent-assembly multiple times, and also became cabinet minister. Following his election to the house of representatives in the 2017 legislative election, he was elected House Speaker but resigned in October 2019 after allegations of attempted rape were made by a parliamentary staffer. He was acquitted in February 2020.[2]
Krishna Bahadur Mahara कृष्ण बहादुर महरा | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Speaker of the House of Representatives | |
| In office 10 March 2018 – 1 October 2019 | |
| President | Bidhya Devi Bhandari |
| Preceded by | Onsari Gharti Magar (as Speaker of Constituent Assembly of Nepal) |
| Succeeded by | Agni Sapkota |
| Ministry of Home Affairs (Nepal) | |
| In office 1 April 2007 [1] – 17 September 2007 | |
| President | Ram Baran Yadav |
| Minister of Information and Communications | |
| Preceded by | Dilendra Prasad Badu |
| Succeeded by | Girija Prasad Koirala |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 29 June 1958 Liwang Rolpa District Nepal |
| Political party | Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre) (1991–1994) Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (1994–2018) Nepal Communist Party (NCP) (2018–present) |
Career
In the April 2008 Constituent Assembly election he was elected from the Dang-3 constituency, winning 20784 votes. He was subsequently appointed as Minister of Information and Communication in the Cabinet headed by CPN (M) Chairman Prachanda and sworn in on 22 August 2008.[3]
Controversies
In September 2019, an employee of the parliament secretariat came forward alleging attempted rape by a drunk Mahara at her apartment on the night of 29 September.[4] Mahara resigned as Speaker on 1 October at the behest of his party,[5] and was subsequently arrested.[6]
References
- "Ex-Ministers of MOIC". www.moic.gov.np. Ministry of Information and Communications. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
- "Nepal's former parliament speaker acquitted of rape charges". Los Angeles Times. 17 February 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
- "Cabinet formed including MJF, UML fails to join", Nepalnews, 22 August 2008.
- "Parliament Sectt staffer accuses Mahara of rape". The Himalayan Times. 1 October 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- "Speaker Mahara offers 'temporary resignation' following accusation of rape". The Himalayan Times. 1 October 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- "Nepal's speaker arrested over alleged staff rape". 7 October 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.