Upendra Yadav (; born 12 November 1960) is a Nepalese politician who has served as the chairman of the

People's Socialist Party, Nepal The People's Socialist Party, Nepal ( abbr. PSP-N; ne, जनता समाजवादी पार्टी, नेपाल), also known as Janata Samajbadi Party is the sixth-largest political party in Nepal. Since the 2022 local electio ...

since 2020. He served as the

Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal The deputy prime minister of Nepal ( ne, नेपालको उप-प्रधानमन्त्री) is the deputy head of government of Nepal. The deputy prime minister is second in seniority in the Council of Ministers of Nepal. The de ...

under the government of

KP Sharma Oli Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli ( ne, खड्गप्रसाद शर्मा ओली, ; born 22 February 1952) is a Nepalese politician and former Prime Minister of Nepal. He served three terms as prime minister from 11 October 2015 to 3 Augu ...

from 2018 to 2020. He also served as the

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

in the Dahal cabinet from 2008 to 2009 and in the

Khanal cabinet On 6 February 2011, Jhala Nath Khanal of the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) was elected the new Prime Minister of Nepal, after his predecessor Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned as the head of the government seven months before in June 2010. While many ...

in 2011.

Early life and education

Yadav was born in Bhagwatpur,

Saptari Saptari ( ne, सप्तरी जिल्ला}), a part of Madhesh Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. Its district headquarter is Rajbiraj. Saptari is an Outer Terai district. This district covers an area of and has ...

to Dhanilal Yadav and Phudani Devi Yadav on 12 November 1960. He grew up in

Madhuwan Madhuwan is a village development committee in Sunsari District in the Kosi Zone of south-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread national census conducted by the Nepal Central Bureau of Stat ...

and completed his SLC examinations there in 1975. He completed his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

from Hattisar College in

Dharan Dharan ( ne, धरान) a sub-metropolitan city in Sunsari District of Province No. 1, Nepal, which was established as a fourth municipality in the Kingdom in 1958. It is the third most populous city in Eastern Nepal after Biratnagar and It ...

and his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

Mahendra Morang Adarsh Multiple Campus Mahendra Morang Adarsh Multiple Campus ( ne, महेन्द्र मोरङ आदर्श बहुमुखी क्याम्पस) is a constituent campus of Tribhuvan University in Biratnagar, Morang. Established in 1955 a ...

Biratnagar Biratnagar () is a metropolitan city in Nepal, which serves as the capital of Province No. 1. With a population of 242,548 as per the 2011 census, it is the largest city in the province and also the headquarters of Morang district. As per the p ...

Political career

Yadav was involved in protests against the

panchayat system Panchayat ( ne, पञ्चायत) was a partyless political system incepted by King Mahendra by sidelining the Nepali Congress government of B. P. Koirala on 15 December 1960 AD (1st Poush 2017 BS). He introduced the partyless Panchayat sys ...

as far back as 1975. He was involved in the 1979 student protests and was arrested in

and was imprisoned for fourth months. He was also arrested in 1985 at Kathmandu and imprisoned for a year for participating in a ''

Satyagraha Satyagraha ( sa, सत्याग्रह; ''satya'': "truth", ''āgraha'': "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth",' or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone w ...

'' organized by

Nepali Congress The Nepali Congress ( ne, नेपाली कांग्रेस ; abbr. NC) is the largest social democratic political party in Nepal. As per the results of recent local election, ''Nepali Congress'' stands as the single largest party o ...

. Yadav joined the

CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) CPN may refer to: * Calpine Corporation, New York Stock Exchange symbol CPN * Canadian Perinatal Network * ''Carnivorous Plant Newsletter'' * Carpinteria (Amtrak station), California, Amtrak station code CPN * Caspian Airlines (Iran), ICAO airline ...

in 1991 and contested for the House of Representatives from Sunsari 4 in the same year. He gained 8,672 votes but finished a distant second. He served as the district leader of

Sunsari , nickname = , native_name_lang = , image_skyline = , image_size = , image_alt = , image_caption = Night view of Dharan, Itahari & Tarahara :: Barahakshetra Temple: BPKIHS, Dharan : Dharan Clock Tower , image_map = Sunsari district lo ...

and

Morang Morang District ( ne, मोरङ जिल्ला ) is located in Province No. 1 in eastern Nepal. It is an Outer Terai district. It borders with Bihar, India to the South, Jhapa to the East, Dhankuta and Panchthar to the North, and Sunsar ...

district during his time in the party. He resigned from the party in 1997.

Madheshi Jana Adhikar Forum: 1997–2015

He founded the Madheshi Jana Adhikar Forum in the mid-1990s along with

leader

Jay Prakash Gupta Jay Prakash Gupta ( ne, जय प्रकाश गुप्ता), also referred to as ''Jay Prakash Anand'' or popularly ''JP Gupta'', is a Nepalese politician and former member of the Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum, Nepal, Madhesi Jana Adhikar ...

as a non-governmental organization that advocated for Madheshi rights. After leaving CPN (UML) Yadav had become an alternate central committee member of

CPN (Maoist) Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) may refer to: * Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) is the former name of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), until 2009. * Communist Party of Nepal (Revolutionary Maoist), founded June 2012 * Unified Comm ...

. In February 2004 Yadav was arrested in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

along with Maoist party members

Matrika Yadav Matrika Prasad Yadav ( ne, मातृका प्रसाद यादव), is a Nepalese politician. He was the Industry, Commerce and Supplies Minister of Nepal in Second Oli cabinet and Minister of Land Reform in First Dahal cabinet. H ...

and

Mohan Baidya Mohan Baidya ( ne, मोहन वैद्य) is a Nepalese political activist who is the chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal Revolutionary Maoist, a party formed in 2012 by a splinter group from the Nepal Communist Party - Maoist Uni ...

. He was released after two months while the others were handed over to Nepalese authorities in 2006.

Madhesh movement

He was again arrested on 16 January 2007 in Kathmandu along with MP Amaresh Kumar Singh and a dozen others after they burned copies of the Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2007 after it did not address the issue of

federalism Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments (Province, provincial, State (sub-national), state, Canton (administrative division), can ...

and greater political representation from the

Terai The Terai or Tarai is a lowland region in northern India and southern Nepal that lies south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Sivalik Hills, and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This lowland belt is characterised by tall grasslands, scr ...

in the parliament and the

constituent assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

. Following mass protests and indefinite strikes in the

Terai region , image =Terai nepal.jpg , image_size = , image_alt = , caption =Aerial view of Terai plains near Biratnagar, Nepal , map = , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption = , biogeographic_realm = Indomalayan realm , global200 = Terai-Duar savanna a ...

organized by his party, the government agreed to amend the interim constitution and on 12 April 2007, Nepal was turned into a federal republic.

Constituent Assembly

He registered the organization as a political party on 26 April 2007 to contest the constituent assembly elections. He was elected to the

1st Nepalese Constituent Assembly The first Nepalese Constituent Assembly was a unicameral body of 601 members that served from May 28, 2008, to May 28, 2012. It was formed as a result of the first Constituent Assembly election held on April 10, 2008. The Constituent Assembly ( ...

from Sunsari 5 at the 2008 elections. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in a coalition government with the

from August 2008 to May 2009 and again in a coalition government with

in 2011. After

Bijay Kumar Gachhadar Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar ( ne, बिजयकुमार गच्छदार; born February 1, 1954) is a Nepalese politician and leader of the Nepali Congress. He has served five terms as deputy prime minister of Nepal under the government o ...

split away from the party to form Madheshi Jana Adhikar Forum (Loktantrik), Yadav served as the parliamentary party leader of the MJF. He was also a member of the State Affairs Committee of the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

. He retained his seat in the

2nd Nepalese Constituent Assembly The Second Constituent Assembly of Nepal, later converted to the Legislature Parliament ( ne, व्यवस्थापिका संसद), was a unicameral legislature of Nepal. It was elected in the 2013 Constituent Assembly elections af ...

from Sunsari 5 at the 2013 elections. He served as the parliamentary party leader of MJF and also served as a member of the Constitutional-Political Dialogue and Consensus Committee.

National politics: since 2015

On 15 June 2015, his party merged with

Federal Socialist Party Federal Socialist Party () was a political party of Nepal led by Ashok Rai formed in 2012. History Ashok Rai who was the vice-chair of CPN (UML) and Rajendra Prasad Shrestha, a central committee member of the party, broke away from the CPN (UML ...

and Khas Samabesi Party to form the Federal Socialist Forum. He served as co-chairman of the new party along with

Rajendra Prasad Shrestha Rajendra Prasad Shrestha is a Senior Nepalese politician, belonging to the People's Socialist Party, Nepal The People's Socialist Party, Nepal ( abbr. PSP-N; ne, जनता समाजवादी पार्टी, नेपाल), also ...

. He contested the

2017 elections The following elections occurred in 2017. Africa * 2017 Somali presidential election 8 February 2017 *2017 Gambian parliamentary election 6 April 2017 * 2017 Algerian legislative election 4 May 2017 *2017 Lesotho general election 3 June 2017 *2 ...

to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from Saptari 2 and was elected. He was a member of the Education and Health Committee of the

. He served as the

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

in a coalition government with the

Nepal Communist Party The Nepal Communist Party, abbreviated NCP ( ne, नेपाल कम्युनिष्ट पार्टी, ) is a defunct communist party of Nepal. It was founded on 17 May 2018, from the unification of two leftist parties, Communist ...

from June 2018 to December 2019. His party merged with the

Rastriya Janata Party Nepal The Rastriya Janata Party, Nepal, abbr. ''RJPN'' ( ne, राष्ट्रिय जनता पार्टी, नेपाल, translation: National People's Party, Nepal) was the fourth-largest political party in Nepal after the Nepali Co ...

in 2020 to form the People's Socialist Party. He served as co-chairman of the party with

Mahantha Thakur Mahantha Thakur ( ne, महन्थ ठाकुर), is a Nepalese politician and president of Loktantrik Samajbadi Party Nepal, as well as the former treasurer of Nepali Congress Party. He has served Minister in various ministries including ...

until Thakur split off to form the

Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Nepal The Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Nepal ( ne, लोकतान्त्रिक समाजवादी पार्टी, lit=Democratic Socialist Party), is the sixth largest political party in Nepal. The party was officially registered at E ...

. Yadav contested the

2022 elections The following elections are scheduled to occur in 2022. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2022 United Nations Security Council election * 2022 national electoral calendar * 2022 local e ...

to the House of Representatives from Saptari 2 again but lost to

Janamat Party The Janamat Party ( ne, जनमत पार्टी, lit=Public Opinion Party) is a Nepalese political party. The party stands as a national party in Nepal and is the seventh-largest party since the 2022 general election. History Formati ...

chairman Chandra Kant Raut by a margin of over 18,000 votes.

Criticism

Yadav has been accused of being linked to Hindu extremist groups and in December 2006 publicly supported the notion of Nepal as a Hindu nation at a program of right-wing Hindu groups in Gorakhpur, India. A month after the incident he was leading the protests in support of turning Nepal into a

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

federal republic A federal republic is a federation of states with a republican form of government. At its core, the literal meaning of the word republic when used to reference a form of government means: "a country that is governed by elected representatives ...

. He has also been accused of focusing on

Yadav Yadav refers to a grouping of traditionally non-elite, Quote: "The Yadavs were traditionally a low-to-middle-ranking cluster of pastoral-peasant castes that have become a significant political force in Uttar Pradesh (and other northern state ...

s instead of the greater Madheshi community. He was criticized by some for supporting

candidate

Ram Baran Yadav Ram Baran Yadav ( mai, डा. राम वरण यादव) is a Nepali politician and physician who served as the first president of Nepal from 23 July 2008 to 29 October 2015, following the declaration of a republic in 2008. Previously h ...

instead of

candidate

Ram Raja Prasad Singh Ram Raja Prasad Singh ( ne, राम राजा प्रसाद सिंह) (1936 – 12 September 2012) was a Nepalese politician. In July 2008, Singh was proposed by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), a Nepalese political party which ...

. Yadav had been criticized for the Gaur incident where dozens of

cadres were left dead following violent clashes with cadres of Madheshi Jana Adhikar Forum. Yadav was supposed to address a mass meeting of MJFN supporters in

Gaur The gaur (''Bos gaurus''; ), also known as the Indian bison, is a bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 m ...

Rautahat Rautahat is a village development committee in Saptari District in the Sagarmatha Zone of south-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 2252 people living in 468 individual households. Jung Bahadur Rana ...

, the Madhesh Mukti Morcha of CPN (Maoist) were also holding their rally in the same venue. MJF and Maoist supporters were engaged in clashes during the Madhesh movement and the Gaur incident was seen as retaliation for these clashes. Once a major activist for Madheshi people, Yadav has been criticized for forgetting Madhesh-centric issues as he became more active in national politics.

Personal life

Yadav is married to Parbati Yadav with whom he has two children, a son and a daughter. His son, Amarendra Yadav, contested the 2022 local elections for the deputy mayor of

but lost.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yadav, Upendra Living people 1960 births Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum, Nepal politicians Foreign Ministers of Nepal Madhesi people People from Biratnagar Indigenous rights activists Government ministers of Nepal Nepalese Hindus Nepal MPs 2017–2022 Deputy Prime Ministers of Nepal Members of the 1st Nepalese Constituent Assembly Members of the 2nd Nepalese Constituent Assembly Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) politicians People's Socialist Party, Nepal politicians