Lawmaker Bhattarai to be sworn-in on Wednesday

KATHMANDU, Dec 16: Newly-elected Member of the House of Representatives Bidya Bhattarai will take the oath of office and secrecy on Wednesday.

Bhattarai, the wife of late Tourism Minister Rabindra Adhikari, was elected from Kaski constituency-2 in the recently concluded by-election defeating her rival from Nepali Congress Khamraj Paudel with a margin of 8,403 votes.

The constituency had been vacant after Adhikari lost his life in a helicopter crash in Taplajung earlier this February.

Deputy Speaker Shiva Maya Tumbahamphe will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Bhattarai as the position of Speaker lies vacant since the resignation of Krishna Bahadur Mahara following the rape attempt allegations.

Bhattarai, who was active in the erstwhile CPN-UML’s student wing, had given up politics after she got married to Adhikari in 1999.

She was an assistant professor at the Tribhuvan University before her candidacy from Kaski-2 in the House of Representatives by-election.