Arzu Rana Deuba

Arzu Rana Deuba
आरजु राणा देउवा
Deuba in 2021
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nepal
In office
15 July 2024[1] – 9 September 2025
PresidentRam Chandra Poudel
Prime MinisterKP Sharma Oli
Preceded byNarayan Kaji Shrestha
Succeeded byBala Nanda Sharma
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
22 December 2022 – 12 September 2025
PR groupKhas Arya (Women)
ConstituencyNepali Congress PR list
Member of the Legislature Parliament
In office
21 January 2014 – 14 October 2017
PR groupKhas Arya (Women)
ConstituencyNepali Congress PR list
Member of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal
In office
28 May 2008 – 28 May 2012
PR groupKhas Arya (Women)
ConstituencyNepali Congress PR list
Personal details
BornArzu Rana
(1962-01-26) 26 January 1962
Lalitpur, Nepal
CitizenshipNepali
PartyNepali Congress
Spouse
​
(m. 1994)​
[2]
Parents
  • Binod Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana (father)
  • Prativa Rana (mother)
RelativesJuddha Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana (grandfather)[3]
Alma materSt. Bede's College, Shimla
Himachal Pradesh University
Panjab University
(MA, PhD in Organizational Psychology, 1990)
Profession

Arzu Rana Deuba (Nepali: आरजु राणा देउवा) (born 26 January 1962)[4] is a Nepali politician, who previously served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.[5] She served as the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Cooperatives and Natural Resources from August 2023 to July 2024.[6]

Dr. Deuba joined the Nepali Congress in 1996 and was elected Central Committee member of the party in 14th general convention of Nepali Congress. In the 2022 Nepalese general election she was elected as a proportional representative from the Khas people category.[7] She is married to former Prime Minister of Nepal, Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Deuba has pursued issues such as women's rights, reproductive rights, equal citizenship rights, property rights, violence against women, and equitable political representation while writing the Constitution of Nepal. She has also highlighted the disproportionate impact of climate change on Nepali women, particularly those in rural and mountainous communities who face increased burdens from water scarcity, food insecurity, agricultural disruption, and climate-induced disasters.[8][9]

She was a member of the Constitution Drafting Committee and served as Chair of the Women Parliamentarians Coordination Committee. Deuba has established a number of NGOs in Nepal, including RUWDUC,[10] Saathi,[11] SMNF,[12] and SAMANTA, a research-based institute for social and gender equality. She has also served as an elected regional councilor for South and East Asia for IUCN and sits on boards including Ipas and the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development.

Education

Deuba graduated from Padmakanya College, Bagmati Province. She obtained her master's degree from Punjab University. She also obtained her PhD in Organizational Psychology in 1990 from Punjab University in India.[13]

Political career

Minister of Foreign Affairs (Nepal) Arzu Rana Deuba sitting with Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 19th August 2024
Arzu Rana Deuba with Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi

Deuba has been a member of the Nepali Congress Party since 1996.[14] Since 2000, she has been a member of the Nepali Congress Party convention and Central Leadership Voting Committee.[15] She was a member of the Constituent Assembly and Parliament of Nepal for ten years (2008–2017). She worked extensively on constitutional provisions for women's rights and representation.

Social work

Deuba has established several NGOs in Nepal focused on women and children, including Saathi (1992), the Rural Women's Development and Unity Centre (1995), the Safe Motherhood Network Federation (1996), and Samanata – Institute for Social & Gender Equality (1997).[16]

Controversies and Allegations

Deuba has faced allegations of corruption and abuse of authority. Reports in The Kathmandu Post claimed she benefited from public contracts and exerted influence over government transfers and appointments, and her name has been linked to the Bhutanese refugee scam and land irregularities in Tikapur, though she has not been formally charged.[17] In August 2024, activist Yubraj Safal filed a complaint against her at the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA).[18]

Personal life

She is married to Sher Bahadur Deuba, former Prime Minister of Nepal and former president of the Nepali Congress Party.[14] During the 2025 Gen Z protests, the couple were injured and taken into police custody after their house was attacked and set on fire on 9 September.[19]

Electoral History

In the 2017 general election, Deuba contested the House of Representatives seat from Kailali 5 as a candidate of the Nepali Congress. The election was widely viewed as a test of her individual political standing, as it marked her first direct electoral contest after previously serving in the Constituent Assembly through the proportional representation system[20]. She faced CPN-UML candidate Narad Muni Rana, who was considered to have a strong local support base in the constituency.[21] The election was also influenced by the broader left alliance formed between the CPN-UML led by K.P. Sharma Oli and the CPN (Maoist Centre) led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, which had consolidated communist votes in several constituencies.[22][23][24] Deuba was defeated by Rana by a margin of 4,880 votes, receiving 22,322 votes against Rana’s 27,202 votes.[25][26][27]

Elections Parliament of Nepal Constituency Political party Result Vote percentage Opposition
Candidate Political party Vote percentage
20175thKailali 5NCLost36.59%Narad Muni RanaCPN(UML)44.59%

References

  1. ↑ "Arzu Rana Appointed Nepal's New Foreign Minister". diplomaticwatch.com. 22 October 2024.
  2. ↑ Wagle, Dinesh (2 May 2005). "Madam Deuba Speaks Her Heart and Mind". United We Blog. Archived from the original on 22 November 2011.
  3. ↑ Thapa, Hari Bahadur (19 March 2019). "Vault of history II : Juddha the villain". The Annapurna Express (in Nepali). Archived from the original on 6 December 2025.
  4. ↑ Profile of Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba Archived 16 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ "NepaliCongress.org- Nepali Congress Official website | Political party of Nepal". www.nepalicongress.org. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  6. ↑ https://hr.parliament.gov.np/np/committees/Agriculture-Cooperative-And-Natural-Resources-Committee
  7. ↑ "Election Commission Nepal" (PDF). Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  8. ↑ Bhattarai, Sewa (18 December 2020). "Nepali women doubly burdened by climate change". Nepali Times.
  9. ↑ "Climate change impact more among Nepali women". The Himalayan Times. 14 September 2023.
  10. ↑ "RUWDUC Kathmandu – "Unity For Women's Empowerment"". Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  11. ↑ "Saathi – Create violence free homes and society where women and children can live a life of dignity". Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  12. ↑ "Safe Motherhood Network Federation Nepal". www.safemotherhood.org.np. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  13. ↑ Arzu Deuba elected IUCN councillor Archived 21 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  14. 1 2 NepaliCongress.org- Nepali Congress Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 2023-02-05)
  15. ↑ Bhattarai, Kamal Dev (29 August 2024). "Arzu's rise in NC and national politics". The Annapurna Express.
  16. ↑ "OnlineWomen: Nepal". www.onlinewomeninpolitics.org. Archived from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  17. ↑ "Money laundering inquiry launched into former prime minister's ex-minister". The Kathmandu Post. 28 September 2025.
  18. ↑ "Yubraj Safal files complaint at CIAA against Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba". MyRepublica. 18 August 2024.
  19. ↑ "देउवा दम्पतीलाई कुटपिट र लछारपछार गरेर सुरक्षाकर्मीको जिम्मा लगाए प्रदर्शनकारीले". Setopati. Retrieved 9 September 2025.
  20. ↑ Bhattarai, Kamal Dev (17 November 2017). "Kailali-5 contest a test of Arzu's popularity". The Kathmandu Post.
  21. ↑ Deuba, Tekendra (10 December 2017). "CPN-UML's Narad Muni Rana defeats Dr Arju Rana in Kailali-5". The Himalayan Times.
  22. ↑ "UML, Maoist Centre, Naya Shakti Party form electoral alliance for polls". The Himalayan Times. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  23. ↑ "UML, Maoist Center, Naya Shakti to unify". My Republica. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  24. ↑ "CPN-UML, Maoist Centre, Naya Shakti announce electoral alliance, agree to unify". Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  25. ↑ Chhatyal, Dil Bahadur (10 December 2017). "Arzu looses with more than 5 thousand votes". My Republica.
  26. ↑ "PM's wife Arzu Rana loses first first-past-the-post polls in Kailali". Onlinekhabar. 10 December 2017.
  27. ↑ "UML candidate Narad Muni Rana elected from Kailali-5". The Kathmandu Post. 10 December 2017.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.