Krishna Gopal Shrestha

Krishna Gopal Shrestha (Nepali: कृष्ण गोपाल श्रेष्ठ) is a Nepali communist politician and former minister of Nepal. He is a politician belonging to main opposition party of Nepal CPN(UML).

Honourable Krishna Gopal Shrestha
कृष्ण गोपाल श्रेष्ठ
Minister of Education, Science and Technology
In office 25 December 2020 – 13 July 2021
President	Bidya Devi Bhandari
Prime Minister	KP Oli
Preceded by	Giriraj Mani Pokharel
Succeeded by	Devendra Paudel
Minister of Forests and Environment
In office 24 June 2021 – 12 July 2021
President	Bidya Devi Bhandari
Prime Minister	KP Oli
Preceded by	Narad Muni Rana
Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Security
In office 24 June 2021 – 13 July 2021
President	Bidya Devi Bhandari
Prime Minister	KP Oli
Preceded by	Bimal Prasad Shrivastav
Minister of Youth and Sports
In office 24 June 2021 – 13 July 2021
President	Bidya Devi Bhandari
Prime Minister	KP Oli
Preceded by	Ekbal Miya
Minister of Health and Population
In office 24 June 2021 – 13 July 2021
President	Bidya Devi Bhandari
Prime Minister	KP Oli
Preceded by	Sher Bahadur Tamang
Minister of Urban Development
In office 14 October 2020 – 25 December 2020
President	Bidya Devi Bhandari
Prime Minister	KP Oli
State Minister for Local Development
In office 10 June 2004 – 2 February 2005
Monarch	Gyanendra Shah
Prime Minister	Sher Bahadur Deuba
Member of Parliament, Pratinidhi Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office 4 March 2018
Preceded by	Dhyan Govinda Ranjit
Constituency	Kathmandu 9
In office October 1994 – May 1999
Preceded by	Constituency created
Succeeded by	Tirtha Ram Dangol
Constituency	Kathmandu 9
In office 1992 – August 1994
Preceded by	Madan Bhandari
Succeeded by	Rajendra Prasad Shrestha
Constituency	Kathmandu 5
Personal details
Born	(1958-09-22) 22 September 1958 (age 66)
Nationality	Nepali
Political party	CPN (UML)
Other political affiliations	CPN (ML)

Political career

Shrestha joined politics in 1979 as a member of CPN ML, the predecessor of CPN UML.^[1] He was arrested and imprisoned multiple times during the fight against the partyless Panchayat system.^[1] He became the party's Kathmandu district secretary in 1982.^[1] He became Bhaktapur district secretary in 1986, and Lalitpur district secretary in 1990.^[1] After the formation of CPN UML, he had remained the party's central committee member from 1998 to 2018, when the party was merged with CPN (Maoist Centre).^[1]

He was elected from Kathmandu-5 constituency in the by-election of 1992, after party secretary Madan Bhandari vacated the seat.^[1] He won the 1994 legislative election from Kathmandu-7 constituency.^[1] He was defeated in Kathmandu-9 in the 1999 election.^{[citation needed]}

He was appointed the State Minister for Local Development in 2005.^[1]

In the 2008 constituent assembly election, he contested from Kathmandu-9 again, but was defeated. In the 2013 election for the second constituent assembly, he was the CPN UML candidate in Kathmandu-9 constituency but lost again to his longtime rival Dhyan Govinda Ranjit of Nepali Congress.^[1][2]

In the 2017 election, he was elected from Kathmandu-9 constituency representing CPN UML of the left alliance.^[3]

Following the merger of CPN UML with CPN (Maoist Centre), he was appointed the deputy chief of the treasury and financial management department of the new party.^[4]

Personal life

He was born on October 1, 1958, to Hari Lal and Hari Maya Shrestha in Kathmandu.^[1] He has said that he came from a humble background, and was admitted directly to the fifth grade, having been self-taught up to that point.^[1] He went on to achieve a Master's Degree in Economics.^[1] He has two daughters.^[1]