26-year-old Rubi Kumari Thakur elected Deputy Speaker

KATHMANDU: Rubi Kumari Thakur has been elected Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, representing the Shram Sanskriti Party.

In the election held on Friday evening, Thakur secured 229 votes, while her rival candidate, Saraswoti Lama of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, received five votes. A total of 22 votes were cast as “none of the above.” Out of the 275-member House, 256 lawmakers participated in the voting.

Speaker Dol Prasad Aryal formally announced Thakur’s election and extended congratulations.

The 26-year-old candidate was backed by the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party as well as major opposition parties, including the Nepali Congress, CPN (UML), and the Communist Party of Nepal.

Thakur comes from a modest background and entered politics at a young age after growing up amid social challenges and family responsibilities. She was nominated as a proportional representation lawmaker under the Madhesi Janajati cluster. Her father works in Saudi Arabia, while her mother is a homemaker.

Meanwhile, the first session of the House of Representatives is scheduled to be prorogued at midnight.