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Agni Prasad Sapkota

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Nepalese politician
Agni Prasad Sapkota
अग्नि प्रसाद सापकोटा
Speaker of the Pratinidhi Sabha
In office
27 January 2020 – 25 September 2022
PresidentBidhya Devi Bhandari
Prime Minister
DeputyPushpa Bhusal (Gautam)
Preceded byKrishna Bahadur Mahara
Succeeded byDev Raj Ghimire
Minister for Forests and Soil Conservation
In office
October 2015 – July 2016
PresidentBidhya Devi Bhandari
Prime MinisterKhadga Prasad Oli
Preceded byMahesh Acharya
Succeeded byShankar Bhandari
Minister for Information and Communications
In office
May 2011 – July 2011
PresidentRam Baran Yadav
Prime MinisterJhala Nath Khanal
Preceded byKrishna Bahadur Mahara
Succeeded byJaya Prakash Gupta
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
4 March 2018 – 18 September 2022
Preceded byMohan Bahadur Basnet (as member of the Legislature Parliament)
Succeeded byMadhav Sapkota
ConstituencySindhupalchok 1
Member of the Constituent Assembly / Legislature Parliament
In office
28 May 2008 – 14 October 2017
Preceded bySubas Karmacharya (as member of the House of Representatives)
Succeeded bySher Bahadur Tamang (as member of the House of Representatives)
ConstituencySindhupalchok 2
Personal details
Born (1958-03-07) 7 March 1958 (age 66)
Kubhinde, Sindhupalchok District, Nepal
Political partyCPN (Maoist Centre) (1994-2018, 2021-present)
Other political
affiliations		Nepal Communist Party (NCP) (2018–2021)
CPN (Unity Centre) (1990-1994)
CPN (Fourth Convention) (before 1990)
SpouseTara Devi Sapkota
Parents
  • Dhanpati Sapkota (father)
  • Tilmaya Sapkota (mother)
Alma materTribhuvan University

Agni Prasad Sapkota (Nepali: अग्नि प्रसाद सापकोटा; born 7 March 1958) is a Nepalese politician and former speaker of the House of Representatives. He was elected speaker unopposed on 26 January 2020, after the previous speaker, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, resigned over allegations of attempted sexual assault.

Sapkota previously served as a minister in the cabinets of prime ministers Jhala Nath Khanal and KP Sharma Oli.

Early political career

Sapkota started his early political life as a student activist in 1975. He registered as a general member of the Communist Party of Nepal (Fourth Convention) in 1978 and served as the founding secretary of the Sindhupalchok district chapter of the party in 1980. He became a full-time political activist in 1991, resigning from the post of headmaster of a high school. He filed his candidacy for the House of Representatives in the 1991 elections, but was unable to get on the ballot. Sapkota became a central committee member of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, in 1995, after the party split from the Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre).

Maoist insurrection

When the CPN (Maoist) decided to initiate an armed struggle, he went underground in 1996 and continuously led the movement. He led several party committees and commanded troops of the PLA during the 10-year-long people's war. He was elected politburo member from the party's second national conference held in February 2001. He was also elected a central member of the 41-member United Revolutionary People's Council, a parallel state administration exercised by the Maoists, announced in November 2001. Sapkota, along with Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, were members of a dialogue team setup by the Maoists to hold peace talks with the government in 2001, which was unsuccessful in finding a middle ground after three rounds of meetings.

Murder case of Arjun Lama

Sapkota has been alleged for the murder of Arjun Lama in 2005. Lama was abducted by maoists on 19 April 2005. Lama's wife tried to file a police report against maoists including Agni Sapkota, but the police refused to register fearing reprisals by maoists. Eventually, a writ was filed in Supreme Court and the court ordered Kavre Police to register the murder case on 11 August 2008.

Parliamentary career

After the end of the Maoist insurrection, Sapkota was elected to the Constituent Assembly in April 2008 which the Maoists won in a landslide. He was reelected in November 2013, and thus served two terms as a member of the Constituent Assembly from Sindhupalchok–2. He served as a standing committee member of the CPN (Maoist Centre) and was a spokesperson of the party, and was in-charge of the publicity and education department of the party.

He has served twice as a minister—first as the Minister for Information and Communication from May to July 2011, and later as the Minister for Forests and Soil Conversation from October 2015 to July 2016. Despite his very short term as Minister for Information and Communication, a frequency policy was formulated under his lead and a frequency distribution system was established. He also ensured budget allocation for different facilities to journalists including life insurance and capacity building training of journalists as a part of the role of the government for promotion and development of the free press. During his tenure as Minister for Forests and Soil Conversation, Sapkota visited China on the invitation of the Chinese Minister for State Forestry Administration in January 2016, where in a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, China sought for two pairs of one-horned rhinoceros. He proceeded with the proposal of handing over the pair of rhinos, and in July 2016, the cabinet officially decided to gift two pairs of the endangered animal to China.

He was a member of the House of Representatives from Sindhupalchok–1, having been elected in the general election held in December 2017. After then-speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara resigned in the wake of allegations of sexual assault and attempted rape of a parliamentary staffer, Sapkota was elected speaker unopposed on 26 January 2020 after his candidacy was put forth by the ruling Nepal Communist Party, and was administered the oath of office the next day by president Bidya Devi Bhandari.


Electoral history

Sapkota was elected to the first Constituent Assembly in 2008 from Sindhupalchok–2 with a margin of over 20,000 votes than his next closest opponent. He was reelected in 2013 from the same constituency, but with a heavily reduced majority of just 650 votes. For the 2017 federal polls, the left alliance, consisting of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) and Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) nominated him as a common candidate for Sindhupalchok–1, and he successfully unseated Nepali Congress' Mohan Bahadur Basnet, who was then serving as the Minister of Information and Communications, winning by over 10,000 votes. Only the top two candidates are shown below.

2008 Constituent Assembly election

Sindhupalchok–2

Party Candidate Votes Status
UCPN (Maoist) Agni Prasad Sapkota 30,175 Elected
CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) Subas Karmacharya 10,063 Lost

2013 Constituent Assembly election

Sindhupalchok–2

Party Candidate Votes Status
UCPN (Maoist) Agni Prasad Sapkota 12,808 Elected
CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) Subas Karmacharya 12,158 Lost

2017 House of Representatives election

Sindhupalchok–1

Party Candidate Votes Status
CPN (Maoist Centre) Agni Prasad Sapkota 40,504 Elected
Nepali Congress Mohan Bahadur Basnet 29,795 Lost

Personal life

Sapkota was born in Kubhinde, Sindhupalchok in a low-middle class peasant family. He is married to Tara Devi and they have three sons. He completed his secondary school education from Krishna Ratna Ganga High School in Chautara.

A post-graduate from Tribhuvan University, Sapkota was a teacher for over 16 years before he formally joining full-time politics. He also served as the general secretary of the National Teachers Association.

References

  1. संघीय संसद सदस्य, २०७४ परिचयात्मक पुस्तिका [Federal Parliament Members 2017 Introduction Booklet] (PDF) (in Nepali). Nepal: Federal Parliament Secretariat. 2021. p. 270.
  2. "Sapkota elected HoR speaker unopposed". The Himalayan Times. 2020-01-27. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  3. "Agni Prasad Sapkota". Election.ujyaaloonline.com. 1958-03-07. Archived from the original on 2015-03-27. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
  4. "History of Peace Negotiation Talk" (PDF). Nepalconflictreport.ohchr.org. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
  5. "UN concerned over appointment of Cabinet Minister alleged to have committed human rights violations". ohchr.org. 5 May 2011. Archived from the original on 6 Oct 2022.
  6. "Nepal: Investigate Maoists' Role in Killing". Human Rights Watch. 2010-07-01. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
  7. "Ca Election report". Election.gov.np. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
  8. "UCPN (M) sets convention date, assigns responsibilities". The Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
  9. "Ex-ministers of Ministry for Information and Communication".
  10. "Minister Sapkota bids farewell, says his tenure successful". The Kathmandu Post. 2011-07-25. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
  11. "The case is a part of design: Sapkota". Archived from the original on 2013-12-30. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  12. "China seeks two pairs of one-horned rhino". The Himalayan Times. 2016-01-18. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
  13. "Govt to gift 2 pairs of one-horned rhinoceros to China". The Himalayan Times. 2017-07-10. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
  14. "Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara steps down amid rape allegations". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  15. Adhikari, Priyanka (2020-01-27). "Newly elected HoR Speaker Agni Sapkota takes oath of office". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  16. "Ca Election report". Election.gov.np. Archived from the original on 2008-05-06. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
  17. "Agni Sapkota defeats minister Basnet in Sindhupalchowk-1". My Republica. 2017-12-09. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
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