Bikram Pandey
{{Short description|Nepali politician (born 1953)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = Honourable
| name = Bikram Pandey
| alt = Colour photo headshot of Bikram Pandey wearing a blue suit with a white shirt and blue tie
| caption = Bikram Pandey
| native_name = विक्रम पाण्डे
| image =Bikram_Pandey_Kalika_Group.png
| office = 14th Minister of Urban Development
| term_start = 17 January 2023
| term_end = 25 February 2023
| president = Bidhya Devi Bhandari
| primeminister = Pushpa Kamal Dahal
| predecessor = Metmani Chaudhary
| successor = Sita Gurung
| office1 = Minister for Forests and Soil Conservation
| term_start1 = 11 September 2017{{cite web|title=Newly appointed ministers sworn in|date=11 September 2017|url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/newly-appointed-ministers-sworn/|publisher=The Himalayan Times|accessdate=12 October 2017}}
| term_end1 = 15 February 2018
| predecessor1 = Sher Bahadur Deuba
as {{small|Prime Minister of Nepal}}
| primeminister1 = Sher Bahadur Deuba
| president2 = Bidhya Devi Bhandari
| successor1 = Shakti Bahadur Basnet
| office2 = Minister of Land Reform and Management
| term_end2 = 8 May 2017
|predecessor2 = Ram Kumar Subba
| primeminister2 = KP Sharma Oli
| successor2 = Gopal Dahit
| term_start2 = 11 August 2016{{Cite web|url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/pm-assigns-portfolios-rpp-ministers/|title = PM assigns portfolios to RPP ministers|date = 11 August 2016}}
| office3 = Vice-president of Rastriya Prajatantra Party
| president3 = Rajendra Lingden
| termstart3 = 5 December 2021
| termend3 =
| office4 = Member of Parliament, Pratinidhi Sabha
| term_start4 = 22 December 2022
| term_end4 =
| constituency4 = Chitwan 3
| predecessor4 = Pushpa Kamal Dahal
| office5 = Member of 2nd Nepalese Constituent Assembly
| term_start5 = 21 January 2014
| term_end5 = 14 October 2017
| constituency5 = Chitwan 5
| predecessor5 = Amik Sherchan
| successor5 = Constituency abolished
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1953|04|24|df=y}}
| birth_place = Chitwan District, Nepal
| nationality = Nepali
| party = Rastriya Prajatantra Party
| otherparty = RPP (D)
| alma_mater = Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
}}
Bikram Pandey is a Nepalese politician belonging to Rastriya Prajatantra Party and constituent assembly member. He was elected to the Pratinidhi Sabha in the 2013 CA election on behalf of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party from Chitwan 5.{{Cite web|last=Republica|title=RPP splits; Pashupati Shamsher Rana forms RPP-Prajatantrik|url=http://myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com/news/25173/|access-date=2021-12-07|website=My Republica|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=चितवनको चुनावः वाम र लोकतान्त्रिक गठवन्धनवीच यस्तो छ हिसाब|url=https://www.onlinekhabar.com/2017/11/637511|access-date=2021-12-07|website=Online Khabar|language=en-US}}
Pandey is the current Vice president of Rastriya Prajatantra Party elected from the 2021 general convention of Rastriya Prajatantra Party.{{Cite web|title=राप्रपाको पदाधिकारीमा को–को भए विजयी ? (सूचीसहित)|url=https://baahrakhari.com/news-details/335453/|access-date=2022-02-08|website=राप्रपाको पदाधिकारीमा को–को भए विजयी ? (सूचीसहित)}}
Political life
Pandey has served several terms as minister in different ministries.{{Cite web|last=Monica|date=2017-09-11|title=Newly appointed ministers sworn in|url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/newly-appointed-ministers-sworn|access-date=2021-12-07|website=The Himalayan Times|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Keshav|date=2016-08-11|title=PM assigns portfolios to RPP ministers|url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/pm-assigns-portfolios-rpp-ministers|access-date=2021-12-07|website=The Himalayan Times|language=en}} Pandey was one among the three RPP leaders to win FPTP election to Constituent Assembly after 2013.
In 2017 Nepalese General Election, Pandey was candidate from Chitwan 3 against former prime minister and Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal.{{Cite web|title=विक्रम पाण्डे भन्छन्, 'प्रचण्ड मेरा प्रतिस्पर्धी होइनन्'|url=https://annapurnapost.com/news/85119|access-date=2021-12-07|website=विक्रम पाण्डे भन्छन्, 'प्रचण्ड मेरा प्रतिस्पर्धी होइनन्'|language=en}} He had challenged Dahal to win the constituency on his own while this was keenly watched throughout the country.{{Cite web|title=विक्रम पाण्डे भन्छन्- कांग्रेसको सबै भोट मैले पाउँछु|url=https://www.onlinekhabar.com/2017/10/635680|access-date=2021-12-07|website=Online Khabar|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=प्रचण्डलाई चितवनमा विक्रम पाण्डेको चुनौती|url=https://www.onlinekhabar.com/2017/10/635427|access-date=2021-12-07|website=Online Khabar|language=en-US}} Pandey, a candidate of RPP was supported by Nepali Congress.{{Cite web|last=रातोपाटी|title=यस्तो छ प्रचण्ड र विक्रम पाण्डेका मतदाताको मुड|url=https://ratopati.com/story/22975|access-date=2021-12-07|website=RatoPati|language=Nepali}} Though Pandey was unsuccessful, he lost with a very less margin than expected.{{Cite web|last=रातोपाटी|title=विक्रम पाण्डेले कांग्रेसका तीन शीर्ष नेतासँग आशीर्वाद लिएर मतदान गरे|url=https://ratopati.com/story/24370|access-date=2021-12-07|website=RatoPati|language=Nepali}}{{Cite web|title=चितवन ३ मा प्रचण्ड भन्दा विक्रम पाण्डे २१४ मतले अगाडि (अपडेट)|url=https://annapurnapost.com/news/85483|access-date=2021-12-07|website=चितवन ३ मा प्रचण्ड भन्दा विक्रम पाण्डे २१४ मतले अगाडि (अपडेट)|language=en}}
Pandey is the newly elected vice president of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party.{{Cite web|title=Rajendra Lingden elected as president of Nepal's pro-Hindu Rastriya Prajatantra Party - The New Indian Express|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/amp/story/world/2021/dec/05/rajendra-lingden-elected-as-president-of-nepals-pro-hindu-rastriya-prajatantra-party-2392143.html|access-date=2021-12-07|website=www.newindianexpress.com}}
Controversies
Pandey is the chairman of Kalika Group which operates construction and power companies, among others.{{Cite web |title=Our Team - Kalika Power Company |url=https://kalikapower.com.np/our-team |access-date=2023-01-18 |website=kalikapower.com.np |language=en}} In 2018, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority filed Rs 2 billion corruption case against Pandey over the faulty construction of the Sikta Irrigation Canal.{{Cite web |last=Sikta |first=Setopati :: Rs 2b corruption case against ex-minister Bikram Pandey over |title=Rs 2b corruption case against ex-minister Bikram Pandey over Sikta |url=https://en.setopati.com/social/135040/ |access-date=2023-01-18 |website=Rs 2b corruption case against ex-minister Bikram Pandey over Sikta}} Pandey was later acquitted of all charges by the Special Court.{{Cite web |title=Court acquits all 21 accused of graft in Sikta project |url=https://kathmandupost.com/national/2022/06/20/court-acquits-all-21-accused-of-graft-in-sikta-project |access-date=2023-01-18 |website=kathmandupost.com |language=English}}
Pandey's appointment as Minister for Urban Development in 2023 has also been criticized as a conflict of interest since he owns a construction company that bids for government tenders and is now in charge of a ministry that hands out those same tenders.{{Cite web |title=नयाँ राजनीति, पुरानै बेथिति: सहरी विकासमा ठेकेदार र श्रममा म्यानपावर एजेन्ट |url=https://ekantipur.com/news/2023/01/18/167400253716131541.html |access-date=2023-01-18 |website=ekantipur.com |language=ne}}
Electoral history
= [[2017 Nepalese legislative election|2017 legislative elections]] =
| class="wikitable"
! colspan="4" |Chitwan 3 (constituency) |
| colspan="2" |Party
!Candidate !Votes |
|---|
| style="background-color:{{party color|Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre)}}" |
|48,276 |
| style="background-color:steelblue" |
|Rastriya Prajatantra Party (Democratic) |Bikram Pandey |38,935 |
| style="background-color:indianred" |
|Dambar Shrestha |1,587 |
| | colspan="2" |Others
|1,495 |
| colspan="3" |Invalid votes
|3,520 |
| colspan="2" |Result
! colspan="2" |Maoist Centre gain |
| colspan="4" |Source: [https://result.election.gov.np/ElectionResultCentral.aspx Election Commission] |