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Giriraj Mani Pokhrel Honourable
गिरिराजमणि पोखरेल
Giriraj Mani Pokharel in 2018
Minister of Education, Science and Technology
In office 16 March 2018 – 20 December 2020
President	Bidhya Devi Bhandari
Prime Minister	Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli
Preceded by	Chitra Lekha Yadav
Succeeded by	Dhaniram Paudel
Minister of Health and Population
In office 29 April 2007 – 4 May 2009
Prime Minister	Pushpa Kamal Dahal
Member of Parliament, Pratinidhi Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office 4 March 2018
Preceded by	Himself (as MCA)
Constituency	Mahottari 1
Member of Constituent Assembly
In office 28 May 2008 – 14 October 2017
Preceded by	Mahendra Yadav (as MP)
Succeeded by	Himself (as MP)
Constituency	Mahottari 1
Personal details
Born	(1958-03-06) 6 March 1958 (age 66) [1] Khotang, Nepal
Citizenship	Nepali
Nationality	Nepali
Political party	CPN (Maoist Centre) (since 2009)
Other political affiliations	CPN (Fourth Convention) (until 1990) Samyukta Janamorcha (1990–2002) Janamorcha Nepal (2002–2009)
Residence(s)	Kathmandu, Nepal
Profession	Politician

Giriraj Mani Pokharel is a Nepalese politician and the former Minister of Education, Science and Technology. He is also deputy Secretary of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).

Political Life

On April 12, 2007, Janamorcha Nepal, of which he was then a vice-chairman, nominated him as the new Minister of Health. ^[2] Pokharel was appointed to the said position on April 29, 2007. ^[3] In April 2008, he won the Mahottari-1 seat in the Constituent Assembly election as a candidate of Janamorcha Nepal ( People's Front Nepal). ^[4] He then served a second term as Minister of Health and Population, in the government formed under the leadership of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) after it won the most seats in the Constituent Assembly election.

Pokharel's second term as Minister of Health and Population was from 31 August 2008 ^[5] until 4 May 2009, when then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ( Prachanda) resigned along with his cabinet and dissolved the government. ^[6] Pokharel began his second term as the sole representative in the government of his party Janamorcha Nepal. However, in January 2009, Janamorcha Nepal and its parent party, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre) united with the Communist Party of Nepal to become the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). ^[7] Pokharel completed his second term as Minister of Health and Population as a representative of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).

After the unification of the two parties, Pokharel was elected to the party's Standing Committee. He is also in-charge of the party's Health Department. ^[8]

References