Sher Bahadur Deuba | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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शेर बहादुर देउवा | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Deuba in 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 32ndPrime Minister of Nepal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 13 July 2021 – 26 December 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Bidya Devi Bhandari | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | KP Sharma Oli | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Pushpa Kamal Dahal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 7 June 2017 – 15 February 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Bidya Devi Bhandari | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy | Bijay Kumar Gachhadar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Pushpa Kamal Dahal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | KP Sharma Oli | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 4 June 2004 – 1 February 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monarch | Gyanendra | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Surya Bahadur Thapa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Girija Prasad Koirala | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 26 July 2001 – 4 October 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monarch | Gyanendra | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Girija Prasad Koirala | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Lokendra Bahadur Chand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 12 September 1995 – 12 March 1997 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monarch | Birendra | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Man Mohan Adhikari | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Lokendra Bahadur Chand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1946-06-13)13 June 1946 (age 79) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Nepali Congress(before 2002; 2007–present) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other political affiliations | Nepali Congress (Democratic)(2002–2007) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Arzu Rana Deuba | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Tribhuvan University,LSE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | sherbahadurdeuba | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Incumbent
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Sher Bahadur Deuba[a] (born 13 June 1946) is a Nepalese politician who served as the 32ndprime minister of Nepal for five terms (1995–1997, 2001–2002, 2004–2005, 2017–2018 and 2021–2022). He has been the president of theNepali Congress since 2016 and was theMember of Parliament for the parliamentary constituency ofDadeldhura 1 before the parliament was dissolved on 12 September 2025.[2]
Born and raised inAshigram, a remote village inGanyapdhura Rural Municipality ofDadeldhura, Deuba completed his primary education there and his secondary education inDoti. He completed his higher education atTri-Chandra College In 1991, he was elected to theHouse of Representatives and served as theMinister of Home Affairs in the cabinet led byGirija Prasad Koirala. Deuba became prime minister afterMan Mohan Adhikari tried to dissolve the parliament for the second time in two years in 1995.[3] He oversaw the signature of theMahakali treaty withIndia during his first term. His second premiership started in July 2001 amidst therise of the Maoists and he later declared astate of emergency and listed theCommunist Party of Nepal (Maoist) as a "terrorist organization".[4] He was dismissed byKing Gyanendra in October 2002, but after a public backlash, he was reappointed prime minister in June 2004. He was arrested after the2005 coup d'état byKing Gyanendra, and released in February 2006 after the Supreme Court declared his arrest unlawful.[5]
Deuba was sworn in as prime minister for a fourth stint in June 2017, as per an agreement to form a rotational government by Congress and the CPN (Maoist Centre).[6] His government successfully conducted the elections of all three levels of government in different phases in 2017. On 12 July 2021, theSupreme Court ordered the appointment of Deuba as prime minister within 28 hours, and he was appointed prime minister for a fifth term byPresidentBidya Devi Bhandari in accordance with Article 76(5) of theConstitution of Nepal the next day.[7]
Deuba was born on 13 June 1946 inAshigram,Kingdom of Nepal.[8] He completed his primary education from Ashigram Primary School. He then attended Mahendra High School inDoti where he completed hisSchool Leaving Certificate exam. He moved toKathmandu for his higher education and in 1963 enrolled inTri-Chandra College.[9]
In 1988, Deuba, with the help of actingNepali Congress presidentKrishna Prasad Bhattarai, got a scholarship throughSocialist International and was sent to London to attend theLondon School of Economics where he was a research student studying political science.[10] In London he worked as a part-time translator for theBBC World Service.[11]
He started his political career as the member of the Far Western Zonal Student Union in 1963. The organization was founded by students fromFar-Western Development Region who were studying inKathmandu at the time. While studying atTri-Chandra Multiple Campus, he became a member of theArjun Narasingha K.C. led Student Rally Coordination Committee along withRam Chandra Poudel. He became a founding member of theNepal Student Union in 1970. The next year, he became the president of the union, a position that he held for eight years.[12][13]
Deuba was arrested in connection with the Jaisidewal bomb plot.[14] He served nine years in jail during the 1970s and 80s for his participation in pro-democracy activities.[15]
After the1990 revolution, Deuba came back from London and was elected fromDadeldhura 1 at the1991 election fromNepali Congress. He becameHome Minister inGirija Prasad Koirala's cabinet.[12][13]
He was reelected from Dadeldhura 1 at the1994 election. Following the party losing their majority in the election, party president Girija did not stand for parliamentary party leader and Deuba was elected unopposed after rivalsRam Chandra Poudel andShailaja Acharya withdrew their candidacy.[13][16]
After the minority government ofManmohan Adhikari fell, Deuba was appointed as prime minister in 1995 with the support ofRastriya Prajatantra Party andNepal Sadbhawana Party. He came into controversy for having 52 cabinet members in his eighteen month long tenure a move that was criticized by party presidentGirija Prasad Koirala. His government was also accused of bribing MPs from minor parties and sending Rastriya Prajatantra Party MP's to Bangkok in order to avoid key votes in the parliament. His administration also introduced pensions, allowances and other privileges for legislators.[17][18]
Deuba's administration frequently solicited the advice of the opposition in major domestic and foreign policy issues. His cabinet signed theMahakali treaty with India, which had been initiated by the previousCPN (UML) government, introduced a system of voter ID and ended dual ownership of land through consensus in the parliament. Contunuing with party policy, his administration favoredeconomic liberalization that the Koirala government in 1991 had started.Value-added taxes were introduced during his tenure. Deuba completed state visits to India, China, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States during his tenure.[13][17][18]
He resigned in March 1997 after two MPs from his party abstained from voting against a no-confidence motion. He also resigned as parliamentary party leader after losing support in the parliamentary group and was replaced by Girija Prasad Koirala.[18]
In the1999 election, Deuba was reelected fromDadeldhura 1. After the resignation of Krishna Prasad Bhattarai as prime minister and parliamentary party leader, Deuba faced off against Girija Prasad Koirala at the party but lost.[16] He also lost stood against Koirala at the party's tenth general convention in January 2001 for the past of party president but faced defeat again.[19]
After Koirala was forced to resign following the Holeri scandal in July 2001, Deuba defeatedSushil Koirala in the contest for parliamentary party leader and was appointed as prime minister for the second time.[16] His government invited theMaoists for negotiations and agreed upon a cease-fire with them until the end of negotiations. The special Socio-Economic Reform Programs which covered land reforms, abolition of social discrimination, electoral reforms and women's property rights were brought in by his government as preemptive measures before negotiations with the Maoists.[20] Following a breakdown in negotiations, the Maoists resumed their attacks on the government and a state of emergency was declared for six months in February 2002 after a parliamentary vote.[21]
The July 2002 local elections were also postponed following the escalation of violence. After Deuba failed to get a two-thirds majority to extend the state of emergency and dissent within his party on the government's handling of the Maoist issue, Deuba requestedKing Gyanendra to dissolve the parliament and called for new elections within the next six months.[13][21]
The Deuba government failed to hold new elections and asked for fourteen more months citing the growing Maoist insurgency. He was subsequently removed as prime minister by King Gyanendra in November 2002. Removing an elected prime minister was seen as a autocratic move from the king and was followed by wide spread protests.[22]
Deuba's move to extend the state of emergency and dissolving theHouse of Representatives was severely criticized by party chairmanGirija Prasad Koirala. After Deuba was expelled from theNepali Congress, his faction of the party called a general convention that deposed Koirala . Koirala declared this general convention illegal and was supported by two-thirds of the members of the committee. In September 2002, the Election Commission declared that Koirala's group was the official Nepali Congress following which Deuba split the party and formedNepali Congress (Democratic).[21]
After months of protests from the major political parties,King Gyanendra agreed to let the parties nominate the next prime minister. When no consensus was reached among the parties, Deuba was reinstated as prime minister in June 2004.[23]
He remained as prime minister until 1 February 2005, when the king seized executive power and placed leading politicians including Deuba under house arrest. In July, Deuba was sentenced to two years in jail on corruption charges related toMelamchi Water Supply Project by the Royal Commission on Corruption Control set up by King Gyanendra. After the Supreme Court dismissed the commission for being unconstitutional, he was released from prison.[15][24]
In September 2007, he re-united the Nepali Congress (Democratic) with the Nepali Congress.[25]
He was elected fromDadeldhura 1 and Kanchanpur 4 at the2008 Constituent Assembly election, the latter of which he vacated. Deuba was the candidate for Nepali Congress for prime minister but lost toCPN (Maoist) leaderPushpa Kamala Dahal, 464-113.[26] He faced off againstRam Chandra Poudel for parliamentary party leader but lost.[16] Deuba also unsuccessfully challenged acting presidentSushil Koirala at the party's12th general convention in September 2010.[27][19]
He was reelected from Dadeldhura 1 at the2013 Constituent Assembly election. He challenged party presidentSushil Koirala for parliamentary party leader but lost.[16][28]
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At the party's 13th general convention, Deuba contested againstRam Chandra Poudel andKrishna Prasad Sitaula for party president. Deuba fell 11 votes short of winning in the first round and was elected in the second round, defeating Poudel with 58% of the vote.[19][29]
In August 2016, the party agreed on a deal withCPN (Maoist Centre) to run the government for nine months each until the next election. As per the agreement, Deuba was sworn in as prime minister for the fourth time on 7 June 2017.[30][31] He was elected fromDadeldhura 1 at the2017 election but the left alliance ofCPN (UML) and CPN (Maoist Centre) gained a majority in theHouse of Representatives. He resigned in February 2018 to make way for the new government.[32] In the contest for parliamentary party leader he defeatedPrakash Man Singh.[16]
AfterKP Sharma Oli lost a no-confidence motion against him, Deuba was proposed as prime minister by theCPN (Maoist Centre) and some members of the oppositionCPN (UML). President Bidhya Devi Bhandari denied this claim and reappointed Oli as prime minister who requested that theHouse of Representatives be dissolved and called for new elections.[33][34][35] This was met by a legal challenge in theSupreme Court which ruled in favor of restoring the lower house and appointing Deuba as prime minister in July 2021.[36][37] Deuba was then appointed prime minister for the fifth time.[38][39]
At the party's14th general convention in December 2021, he faced a challenge fromShekhar Koirala,Prakash Man Singh,Bimalendra Nidhi and Kalyan Gurung. Deuba got 48% of the vote in the first round and faced Koirala in the second round. Deuba was re-elected as president defeatingShekhar Koirala with 60% of the vote after Singh and Nidhi supported him in the second round.[40][41]
He was reelected from Dadeldhura 1 at the2022 election.[42] He was also reelected as the parliamentary party leader, surviving a challenge from general secretaryGagan Thapa.[16][43] Deuba was replaced byPushpa Kamal Dahal following the election.[44]
Deuba is married toArzu Rana Deuba. They have a son, Jaybir Singh Deuba.[45][15] In November 2016, Deuba was conferred an honorary doctorate degree byJawaharlal Nehru University inIndia.[46] During the2025 Nepalese Gen Z protests, Deuba and his wife were injured after their house was attacked and set on fire by protesters on 9 September and were rescued byNepal Army andArmed Police Force officers.[47]
| Election | House | Constituency | Party | Votes | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | House of Representatives | Dadeldhura 1 | Nepali Congress | 24,570 |  Y Elected | |
| 1994 | 20,701 | |||||
| 1999 | 28,651 | |||||
| 2008 | Constituent Assembly | 20,529 | ||||
| Kanchanpur 4 | 12,824 | Y Vacated | ||||
| 2013 | Dadeldhura 1 | 23,920 | Y Elected | |||
| 2017 | House of Representatives | 28,446 | ||||
| 2022 | 25,534 | |||||
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | President of theNepali Congress 2016–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Nepal 1995–1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Nepal 2001–2002 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Nepal 2004–2005 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Nepal 2017–2018 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prime Minister of Nepal 2021–2022 | Succeeded by |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by | Chair of theSouth Asian Association for Regional Cooperation 2002 | Succeeded by |
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