KP Sharma Oli


Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, more commonly known as K. P. Sharma Oli, is a Nepalese politician and the current Prime Minister of Nepal. Oli previously served as prime minister from 11 October 2015 to 3 August 2016 and was the first elected prime minister under the newly adopted Constitution of Nepal.

Early life

Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli was born on 22 February 1952 in Aathrai, Tehrathum district of eastern Nepal. Born in a humble family of Kumai Brahmin farmers, he is the eldest child of Mohan Prasad and Madhumaya Oli. Oli was raised by his grandmother, Rammaya after his mother died of smallpox when he was four. He completed his primary school education in Tehrathum and later migrated to the southeastern district of Jhapa in 1962. He resided mostly in Jhapa during his early political life. Oli continued his studies upto Class 10 at Himalaya Higher Secondary School in Damak, Jhapa. He appeared in the School Leaving Certificate exam but did not continue with further education.

Early political career

Oli began his political career in 1966 in opposition to the partyless Panchayat system in place at the time. He joined the Communist Party of Nepal in February 1970. He was involved in subversive politics and was arrested for the first time in 1970. A year later he became a district committee member of the party and soon the chief of the Jhapa Movement Organizing Committee in 1972. Oli was imprisoned for 14 consecutive years from 1973 to 1987 for being against autocratic Panchayat system. After his release from prison in 1987, he became a central committee member of Communist Party of Nepal and in-charge of the Lumbini zone until 1990.

Multi-party democracy (1991–2006)

After the 1990 People's Movement, he was elected as a member of parliament from Jhapa–6 in 1991. He held the post of chief of the foreign department of the CPN in 1992.
He was re-elected to parliament in 1994 and served as Minister of Home Affairs in Manmohan Adhikari's minority government. He was re-elected to the House of Representatives from Jhapa constituencies 2 and 6 in 1999 upon which he gave up his Jhapa–6 seat.

Transition period

Oli was appointed as deputy prime minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs as part of the interim government of Girija Prasad Koirala in 2006. He was also assigned to look into the death of fellow politician Madan Bhandari.
He was defeated in the 2008 Constituent Assembly election from Jhapa–7. He also lost the election for the position of chairman to Jhala Nath Khanal during the eight general convention of CPN in 2009.
He was elected from Jhapa–7 in the 2013 Constituent Assembly election and became leader of the CPN parliamentary party on 4 February 2014, defeating party chairman Jhala Nath Khanal by a vote of 98 to 75. Oli was subsequently elected as the chairman of CPN in July 2014 during the party's ninth general convention.

First premiership

Oli was elected as Prime Minister in a parliamentary vote on 11 October 2015, receiving 338 votes out of 597. Oli's candidacy was supported by the Unified Communist Party of Nepal, Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal, and Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum along with 13 other small parties. He was sworn in on 12 October.
His first stint was dominated by the economic blockade imposed by India upon the promulgation of the constitution of Nepal. He took a defiant stance against India's position to amend the constitution and signed trade and transit treaties with China to counter Indian dependence.
Following the withdrawal of support from the Communist Party of Nepal on 13 July 2016 from the existing coalition government and subsequent registration of a no-confidence motion by the party on 14 July 2016, CPN and prime minister Oli seemingly shrank into a minority which pressured him to resign. But CPN 's decision to discuss the filed no-confidence motion led to a three-day parliament meeting of the concerned parties. During the process, two other major parties, Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum, also removed their support from the coalition. On the third day, 24 July 2016, after addressing the opposition parties in parliament, Oli announced his resignation. The Indian government has been accused for creating this political scenario against Oli as he stood firmly against the economic blockade imposed by India.

Second premiership

Oli was appointed Prime Minister for a second time on 15 February 2018 after CPN became the largest party in the House of Representatives following the 2017 legislative elections with support from Communist Party of Nepal, the same party whose withdrawal of support had led to resignation in his first term. He passed a motion of confidence with on 11 March 2018 with 208 out of 268 votes in the 275-member House of Representatives. He has been criticized for poor investigation in searching the murderers of Nirmala Panta leading to nationwide protests. In May 2020, the Oli government unveiled new maps of the country including the disputed territories of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura in response to the inauguration of a road across the Lipulekh pass by the Indian government, which has led to a "cartographic war" between the two countries.

Electoral history

Oli has been elected to the Pratinidhi Sabha from Jhapa in 1991, 1994, 1999 and 2017 on a CPN ticket. He contested and won from two constituencies in the 1999 election and gave up his Jhapa–6 seat. He lost the 2008 Constituent assembly election, but was elected in 2013. Only the top two candidates are shown below.
1991 Pratinidhi Sabha election
Jhapa–6
PartyCandidateVotesStatus
CPN K.P. Sharma Oli–Elected

1994 Pratinidhi Sabha election
Jhapa–6
PartyCandidateVotesStatus
CPN K.P. Sharma Oli18,861Elected
Nepali CongressKeshav Kumar Budhathoki14,202Lost

1999 Pratinidhi Sabha election
Jhapa–2
PartyCandidateVotesStatus
CPN K.P. Sharma Oli18,909Elected
Nepali CongressGiriraj Kumari Prasai18,892Lost

Jhapa–6
PartyCandidateVotesStatus
CPN K.P. Sharma Oli23,749Elected
Nepali CongressKasi Lal Tajpuriya19,713Lost

2008 Constituent Assembly election
Jhapa–7
PartyCandidateVotesStatus
Unified Communist Party of Nepal Bishwodip Lingden Limbu16,099Elected
CPN K.P. Sharma Oli14,959Lost

2013 Constituent Assembly election
Jhapa–7
PartyCandidateVotesStatus
CPN K.P. Sharma Oli19,287Elected
Nepali CongressSuresh Kumar Youngaya11,041Lost

2015 Parliamentary Prime Minister Election
PartyCandidateVotesStatus
CPN K.P. Sharma Oli338Elected
Nepali CongressSushil Koirala249Lost

2017 House of Representatives Election
Jhapa–5
PartyCandidateVotesStatus
CPN K.P. Sharma Oli57,139Elected
Nepali CongressKhagendra Adhikari28,297Lost

Personal life

Oli is married to Radhika Shakya. He met his wife, a fellow communist, after coming out of prison. They first met in the course of party activities and married later.

Controversial claims

KP Sharma Oli has been a person popular for using various slang and proverbs suggesting double meaning and sometimes to hurt the opponent even within his own party in Nepal. He is not only aware of this fact, but he consciously claims that he learnt this technique in the Panchayat era to entertain his colleagues when he was underground.. Following are the list of his controversial claims.