Sushil Prasad Koirala (; 12 August 1931 – 9 February 2016) was a Nepalese politician and the

Prime Minister of Nepal The Prime Minister of Nepal ( ne, नेपालको प्रधानमन्त्री) is the head of government of Nepal. The Prime Minister is the head of the Council of Ministers of Nepal and the chief adviser to the President of N ...

from 11 February 2014 to 10 October 2015. He was also President of the

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 ...

from 2010 to 2016, having earlier served under various capacities in the party.

Early life

Koirala was born to Bodh Prasad and Kumudini Koirala on 12 August 1939 in

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 ...

, second-largest city of Nepal. A member of the politically prominent

Koirala family Koirala family (Nepali: कोईराला परिवार) is one of the prominent political families of Nepal in the Republican Era. The family was founded by Krishna Prasad Koirala, a Rana Era socio-political activist who was exiled t ...

, he was the cousin of former prime ministers

Matrika Prasad Koirala Matrika Prasad Koirala ( ne, मातृका प्रसाद कोइराला ; 1 January 1912 – 11 September 1997) was the Prime Minister of Nepal for two terms from 16 November 1951 to 14 August 1952 and again from 15 June 1953 to ...

Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala ( ne, विश्वेश्वरप्रसाद कोइराला; 8 September 1914 – 21 July 1982), (Nepali: 1971 B.S. Bhadra 24 - 2039 B.S Shrawan 6)better known as B. P. Koirala ( ne, बीपी ...

and

Girija Prasad Koirala Nepal Ratna Girija Prasad Koirala ( ne, गिरिजाप्रसाद कोइराला ; 4 July 1924 – 20 March 2010), affectionately known as Girija Babu, was a Nepalese politician. He headed the Nepali Congress and served as the ...

Political career

Koirala entered politics in 1954 inspired by the social-democratic ideals of the

. In 1958, he keenly participated in ''Bhadra Abagya Aandalon'' (Civil Disobedience Movement) launched by the Nepali Congress. In 1959, he actively involved himself in the party's objective of carrying out the democratic elections. The election saw

become the first elected prime minister of the country. However,

King Mahendra Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev ( ne, श्री ५ महाराजाधिराज महेन्द्र वीर विक्रम शाह देव; 11 June 1920 – 31 January 1972) was the King of Nepal from 13 March 1955 until ...

planned and executed a coup in December 1960 and expelled the elected government led by B.P. Koirala. This resulted in the exile of several members of the

to India, which included Sushil Koirala. He remained in political exile in India for 16 years following the royal takeover of 1960. Koirala also spent three years in Indian prisons for his involvement in a plane hijacking in 1973. While in exile, Koirala was the editor of ''Tarun'', the official party publication. He has been a member of the Central Working Committee of the party since 1979 and was appointed General Secretary of the party in 1996 and Vice President in 1998. In 2001, he lost the leadership ballot for Nepali Congress' parliamentary party to former prime minister

Sher Bahadur Deuba Sher Bahadur Deuba ( ne, शेरबहादुर देउवा, ; born 13 June 1946) is a Nepali politician and former prime minister of Nepal. He has also been serving as the president of the Nepali Congress since 2016. Deuba has served ...

. Koirala was appointed acting president of the party in 2008 by president

. The 12th general convention of the Nepali Congress, on 22 September 2010, elected him party president. The Nepali Congress emerged as the largest party in the 2013 Constituent Assembly elections under Koirala's leadership. He was elected leader of the Congress' parliamentary party securing 105 out of 194 votes against former prime minister Deuba's 89 votes, and on 10 February 2014, he was nominated as prime minister by 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 ...

. During his tenure as prime minister, his government was criticized for its slow aid response to the

April 2015 Nepal earthquake The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed 8,964 people and injured 21,952 more. It occurred at on Saturday, 25 April 2015, with a magnitude of 7.8 Mw or 8.1 Ms and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of X (''Extreme ...

. A historic agreement among the country's four major political parties was also made that year, which paved the way for the promulgation of a new constitution. Due his major role, he is also known as the "Father of the Constitution" Honouring a pledge to stand down as prime minister once the new constitution came into effect, Koirala resigned on 10 October 2015. He sought re-election but was defeated by

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 ...

, leader of Congress' former coalition partners, the

CPN (UML) 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 ...

Electoral history

Koirala was elected to the

Pratinidhi Sabha The Pratinidhi (the Viceroy) was an important member of the ministry in the Maratha Empire. The title of ''Pratinidhi'' means ''the representative of the King,'' and such officials were entitled to sign and seal papers and to issue orders in the ab ...

from the Banke–2 constituency in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

and 1999, while he was defeated in

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

. He lost in the 2008 Constituent Assembly election from Banke–3, finishing third behind the candidates of the MJFN and the UCPN (Maoist). He contested and won from both Banke–3 and Chitwan–4 in the 2013 Constituent Assembly election. He later relinquished the Chitwan–4 seat and represented Banke–3 in the 2nd Constituent Assembly. Only the top two candidates are shown below. 1991 Pratinidhi Sabha Election Banke–2 1994 Pratinidhi Sabha Election Banke–2 1999 Pratinidhi Sabha Election Banke–2 2008 Constituent Assembly Election Banke–3 2013 Constituent Assembly Elections Banke–3 Chitwan–4 2015 Parliamentary Prime Minister Election

Personal life

Koirala remained unmarried throughout his life and was known to live a simple life. He was fondly known among his friends and supporters as '''Sushil daa. Although Koirala was believed to have completed formal education with an Intermediate of Commerce (I. Comm.) degree from a college in India according to his sister-in-law, he refuted those claims and maintained to have only received informal education.

Illness and death

A heavy smoker, Koirala was diagnosed with

tongue cancer Oral cancer, also known as mouth cancer, is cancer of the lining of the lips, mouth, or upper throat. In the mouth, it most commonly starts as a painless white patch, that thickens, develops red patches, an ulcer, and continues to grow. When on ...

in 2006 and

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...

in June 2014. He died on 10 February 2016 at 12:50 AM of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

, at the age of 76.

Bibliography

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koirala, Sushil 1939 births 2016 deaths Government ministers of Nepal Nepali Congress politicians from Lumbini Province People from Biratnagar Prime ministers of Nepal S Nepalese Hindus Deaths from pneumonia in Nepal Deaths from cancer in Nepal Deaths from lung cancer Nepal MPs 1991–1994 Nepal MPs 1999–2002 State funerals in Nepal Members of the 2nd Nepalese Constituent Assembly