Sita Devi Yadav (सीतादेवी यादव in Nepali) is a Nepali politician belonging to the Nepali Congress Party. In March 2016, Sita Devi was elected Nepali Congress party’s treasurer during the party’s 13th National General Convention in Kathmandu.
On 26 August 2016, Sita Devi was appointed Nepal’s minister for Peace and Reconstruction in the Maoist Central and Nepali Congress coalition government led by senior Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’.
Sita Devi Yadav was born on 16 November 1955 in India’s Motihari region and has studied up to an intermediate degree, equivalent to a higher secondary degree, majoring in sociology.
Sita Devi Yadav is the widow of the Nepali Congress leader Chandra Narayan Yadav who was active in the Siraha district. On 19 June 2000, when Nepal’s Maoist armed conflict was at its peak, Chandra Narayan was killed by the Maoist rebels.
Political Career
After her husband was brutally killed during a morning walk, Sita Devi decided to enter active politics and continue the legacy of her husband. Talking to Setopati, a Nepali online news portal, her son Dr Subhas Chandra claimed, though, that it was Nepali congress leader and Nepal’s former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala who persuaded Sita Devi to join active politics.
In 2006, when Nepal’s Maoist rebels and mainstream political parties jointly fought against the monarchy and won, the king had to give in and the dissolved parliament was reinstated. Sita Devi was nominated as a member of the reinstated and expanded parliament.
Sita Devi’s politics mainly continued within the Siraha district during her initial political career. She became the first woman to hold the position of Nepali Congress district committee presidency for three consecutive terms.
Sita Devi’s bid to enter Nepal’s legislative powerhouse in 2008 was unsuccessful since she was defeated in the Constituent Assembly elections from Siraha constituency no 3. She won, however, during the second CA elections in 2013, garnering many thousand votes.
Sita Devi was elected Nepali Congress’ treasurer during the party’s 13th National General Convention in 2016. She defeated former minister and former deputy speaker Chitra Letha Yadav with mere 9 votes. Sita Devi secured 1217 votes while Chitra Lekha got 1209 votes.
