Arjun Oli
NEPALGUNJ, Oct 9: Gajendra Hamal, a long-time Nepali Congress member from Banke district, has succeeded in becoming the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies even though he does not hold any active position in the party. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba appointed him as a minister on Friday. It is rumored that Hamal was recommended for the post of a minister by Chief Justice Cholendra Shamsher Rana who has already denied this allegation.
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Hamal and Chief Justice Rana are brothers-in-law. Hamal claims that he was not helped by anyone outside the party to become a minister. “Why do I need the help of outsiders to become a minister?" he asked. "I was born and raised in a political family and my contribution to the Nepali Congress (NC) has been evaluated by the party as well.”
Born on 19 February, 1954, Hamal is a resident of Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolis-2. When Sher Bahadur Deuba became the central president of Nepal Student Union in 1971, Hamal was elected as the Banke district president of the NC’s student union. He came to limelight when he tore a picture of the then King and Queen in 1983. Hamal was elected as a ward chairperson in 1982 and 1987. Later when the NC splitted, he became the president of Nepali Congress (Prajatantrik) Banke in 1996.
In the first Constituent Assembly election 2007, he had contested from Banke Constituency 1 but lost to CPN-Maiost leader Tika Pariyar. After that, he became inactive in the party’s activities and instead started a campaign to reestablish Nepal as a Hindu nation.
A few years ago, Hamal gathered a large number of sadhus and Hindu holymen in Nepalgunj from India to pressurize for the reestablishment of Nepal as a Hindu nation. "The party has given me a big responsibility by evaluating my contribution. I will fulfill this responsibility efficiently," he said. He is the only minister who is not a member of parliament in the current government. If he is not elected to parliament in the next six months, he will have to quit as a minister, according to the constitutional provisions.
