Bam Dev Gautam

Bam Dev Gautam (Nepali: बाम देव गौतम) is a Nepalese politician and the former Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal.^[1][2] A member of CPN (Unified Socialist), Gautam is a former Senior vice Chairman of Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist). He is currently member of National Assembly nominated by President.^[3]

Honourable Bamdev Gautam
बाम देव गौतम
Gautam in 2015
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs
In office 2014–2015
President	Ram Baran Yadav
Prime Minister	Sushil Koirala
Preceded by	Prakash Man Singh
Succeeded by	Bijay Kumar Gachhadar
In office 2008–2009
President	Ram Baran Yadav
Prime Minister	Pushpa Kamal Dahal
Preceded by	Krishna Prasad Sitaula
Succeeded by	Bijay Kumar Gachhadar
In office 1997–1998
Monarch	Birendra of Nepal
Prime Minister	Lokendra Bahadur Chand
Member of National Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 2021
Preceded by	Yubraj Khatiwada
Constituency	Nominated
Member of Constituent Assembly of Nepal
In office 2008–2013
Constituency	Bardiya 1
In office 2013–2017
Constituency	Bardiya 1
Personal details
Born	Pyuthan District
Nationality	Nepalese
Political party	CPN (Unity National Campaign)
Other political affiliations	Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist–Leninist) (1998) (1998-2002) CPN (UML) (until 1998, 2002-2018) Nepal Communist Party (2018-2021)
Spouse	Tulsa Thapa
Education	SLC

Gautam left Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) on 4 September 2021 and has not joined any party yet. It was reported that he may join CPN (Unified Socialist) or float a new party of his own very soon.^[4][5] Later Gautam wrote election song for CPN (Unified Socialist) after which he is thought to have joined CPN (Unified Socialist) internally. Although Gautam announced his own party on 28 June 2022, named Communist Party of Nepal (Unity National Campaign).^[6]

Personal life

After completing his SLC, Gautam started teaching as a profession. He is married to Tulsa Thapa who is also a Member of House of Representatives.

Political life

Early political career

Bam dev Gautam joined the Communist party of Nepal in 1964 and participated in full-time party activities from Rupandehi District in 1969. He became District Secretary of CPN Rupandehi in 1972. He played a major role in establishing Mukti Morcha with Madan Bhandari and Jeev Raj Ashrit. He later became Central member of Communist Party of Nepal(Marxist–Leninist) in 1980. After the merger, he was made a Politburo member of CPN(UML) and also attained the position of Deputy General Secretary of the party.^[7]

He was elected MP from Bardiya Constituency No. 1 in first General Election 1991 and Mid Term Election 1994. Later he became the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister in February 1997.

Split of CPN (UML) and formation of CPN (ML)

Bam Dev Gautam played a major role in splitting the CPN(UML) over the issue of Mahakali treaty with India and later formed CPN(ML) on 5 March 1998. He was elected General Secretary of the party in March of that year.

Merger to CPN (UML)

The party failed to get a single seat in House in next election. Later, Bam Dev Gautam again joined the CPN(UML).^[8]

On 31 August 2008, Bam Dev Gautam was appointed as the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister in the Maoist-led Coalition Government.^[9]

In federal democratic republican Nepal

In February 2009, Bam Dev Gautam was elected one of the vice-chairman of CPN(UML) in Butwal General Convention.^[10]

On 2 May 2010 during Maoist protests, Bam Dev Gautam called for the Prime Minister to resign to end the current political stalemate.^[11]

He was a member of the 2nd Nepalese Constituent Assembly. He won the Bardia–1 and Pyuthan-1 seat in CA assembly, 2013 from the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist).^[12][13]

2017-present

In ^[when?] he was defeated by Sanjay Gautam of Nepali Congress inspire of left alliance forged between CPN (UML) and CPN (Maoist Centre).^[14][15] Presently, he is a member of National Assembly nominated by President on recomentadion of council of ministers.^[3]

Electoral history

2017 legislative elections

Bardiya 1
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Nepali Congress	Sanjay Kumar Gautam	44,829
	CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)	Bam Dev Gautam	44,076
	CPN (Marxist–Leninist)	Nar Bahadur Bohora	2,372
	Others		2,228
Invalid votes			5,948
Result		Congress gain
Source: Election Commission

2013 Constituent Assembly election

Bardiya 1
Party		Candidate	Votes
	CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)	Bam Dev Gautam	18,347
	UCPN (Maoist)	Bhuwan Kumar Tharu	11,628
	Nepali Congress	Bhuwaneshwar Chaudhary	8,598
	Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum, Nepal (Democratic)	Thakur Singh Tharu	1,174
	Others		3,595
Result		CPN (UML) gain
Source: NepalNews^[16]

Pyuthan 1
Party		Candidate	Votes
	CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)	Bam Dev Gautam	13,962
	Rastriya Janamorcha	Kishna Bahadur Khadka	8,724
	UCPN (Maoist)	Navaraj Subedi	7,054
	Nepali Congress	Hukum Bahadur Bista	5,215
	CPN (Marxist–Leninist)	Yam Bahadur Gurung	1,017
	Others		626
Result		CPN (UML) gain
Source: NepalNews^[16]

2008 Constituent Assembly election

Bardiya 1
Party		Candidate	Votes
	CPN (Maoist)	Sarala Regmi	17,955
	CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)	Bam Dev Gautam	13,773
	Nepali Congress	Malati Sodari	6,831
	Rastriya Prajatantra Party	Govinda Prasad Tharu	2,324
	CPN (Marxist–Leninist)	Nar Bahadur Bohora	1,815
	Madhesi Janaadhikar Forum, Nepal	Thakur Singh Tharu	1,340
	Others		1,154
Invalid votes			1,163
Result		Maoist gain
Source: Election Commission^[17]

1999 legislative elections

Bardiya 1
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Nepali Congress	Kashi Paudel	17,219
	CPN (Marxist–Leninist)	Bam Dev Gautam	13,247
	CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)	Gobinda Prasad Koirala	10,885
	Rastriya Prajatantra Party (Chand)	Gaurav Chand	1,646
	Others		2,774
Invalid votes			1,490
Result		Congress gain
Source: Election Commission^[18]^[19]

1994 legislative elections

Bardiya 1
Party		Candidate	Votes
	CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)	Bam Dev Gautam	16,933
	Nepali Congress	Phul Ram Tharu	10,949
	Rastriya Prajatantra Party	Thakur Singh Tharu	5,757
Result		CPN (UML) hold
Source: Election Commission^[18]

1991 legislative elections

Bardiya 1
Party		Candidate	Votes
	CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)	Bam Dev Gautam	16,486
	Nepali Congress		11,712
Result		CPN (UML) gain
Source: [1]

See also

• 2021 split in Nepal Communist Party
• 2021 split in Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist)
• CPN (Unity National Campaign)

References

1. "18 Ministers sworn-in, Cabinet meeting held". My Republica. 25 February 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
2. "Nepali Times | The Brief » Blog Archive » Meet the new cabinet of Ministers". Nepali Times. 25 February 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
3. "Bamdev Gautam sworn in as a member of National Assembly".
4. "Bam Dev Gautam quits CPN-UML". GorakhaPatra. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
5. Setopati, Setopati. "Bam Dev Gautam to form new party". Setopati. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
6. "Bamdev Gautam announcing a new party today". Khabarhub. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
7. . Archived from the original on 18 November 2001. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
8. . Archived from the original on 18 November 2001. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
9. Nepal News ^{[permanent dead link]}
10. Nepal News ^{[permanent dead link]}
11. Nepal News ^{[permanent dead link]}
12. . MyRepublica.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
13. . Nepalnews.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
14. "Bamdev Gautam lost polls due to his own flaws: UML's probe panel - OnlineKhabar English News". Retrieved 16 January 2022.
15. Republica. "NC candidate Sanjaya defeats UML leader Bamdev in Bardiya-1". My Republica. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
16. . 25 March 2015. Archived from the original on 25 March 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
17. . 3 October 2009. Archived from the original on 3 October 2009. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
18. . 24 January 2008. Archived from the original on 24 January 2008. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
19. "Election Results'99". nepalresearch.org. Retrieved 15 November 2020.