Minendra Rijal
{{short description|Nepali politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = Honourable
| name = Minendra Rijal
| native_name = मिनेन्द्र रिजाल
| image =
| imagesize =
| office = Defence Minister of Nepal
| term_start = 8 October 2021
| term_end = 16 December 2021{{Cite web|url=https://english.ratopati.com/story/22890|title = Defence Minister Rijal to resign amid apparent loss in NC's general secy}}
| president = Bidhya Devi Bhandari
| primeminister = Sher Bahadur Deuba
| predecessor = Ishwor Pokhrel
| successor = Sher Bahadur Deuba
| office1 = Minister of Information and Communications
| term_start1 = 25 February 2014
| term_end1 = 12 October 2015
| president1 = Ram Baran Yadav
| primeminister1 = Sushil Koirala
| successor1 = Sher Dhan Rai
| office2 = Minister for Constituent Assembly, Parliamentary Affairs and Culture
| term_start2 = 25 May 2009
| term_end2 = 6 February 2011
| president2 = Ram Baran Yadav
| primeminister2 = Madhav Kumar Nepal
| office3 = Member of Parliament, Pratinidhi Sabha
| term_start3 = 4 March 2018
| constituency3 = Morang 2
| predecessor3 = Chandi Prasad Rai
| office4 = Member of Constituent Assembly for
Nepali Congress party list
| term_start4 = 21 January 2014
| term_end4 = 14 October 2017
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1957|10|1|df=y}}{{Cite book |url=https://hr.parliament.gov.np/uploads/attachments/z3qljvte6vwen2cy.pdf |title=संघीय संसद सदस्य, २०७४ परिचयात्मक पुस्तिका |publisher=Federal Parliament Secretariat |year=2021 |location=Nepal |pages=270 |language=ne |trans-title=Federal Parliament Members 2017 Introduction Booklet}}
| birth_place = Dharan, Sunsari
| death_date =
| party = Nepali Congress
| spouse = Durga Rijal
| alma_mater = New York University
|website =
}}
Minendra Rijal ({{langx|ne|मिनेन्द्र रिजाल}}) is a Nepali politician and former Defence Minister of Nepal. He is also member of the House of Representatives.
Political career
He is a former member of Nepali Congress party Central Working Committee.{{cite web |title=MINENDRA RIJAL |url=https://www.c-r.org/people-profiles/minendra-rijal |website=www.c-r.org |publisher=CONCILIATION RESOURCES |accessdate=30 May 2020}} He served as Minister of Information and Communications during the prime minister-ship of the Sushil Koirala.
Recently, Rijal resigned as Defence minister after he was unable to win internal election of party for general secretary.{{Cite web|last=Ratopati|title=Defence Minister Rijal to resign amid apparent loss in NC's general secy|url=https://english.ratopati.com//story/22890|access-date=2021-12-16|website=Ratopati|language=en}}
He was elected to parliament from Morang-2 in the 2017 elections. Morang-2 is the constituency from where Late PM Girija Prasad Koirala used to contest the election.{{cite web|url=http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=70127 |publisher=My Republica |title=18 Ministers sworn-in, Cabinet meeting held |date=25 February 2014 |accessdate=16 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720050012/http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=70127 |archivedate=20 July 2014 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2014/02/25/meet-the-new-cabinet-of-ministers/|date=25 February 2014|publisher=Nepali Times|title= The Brief » Blog Archive » Meet the new cabinet of Ministers|accessdate=16 July 2014}}
He was also one of the architects of the mixed electoral system that ensured better social and gender diversity in the Constituent Assembly.
Electoral history
= [[2017 Nepalese legislative election|2017 legislative elections]] =
| class="wikitable"
! colspan="4" |Morang 2 |
| colspan="2" |Party
!Candidate !Votes |
|---|
| style="background-color:{{party color|Nepali Congress}}" |
|Minendra Prasad Rijal |35,819 |
| style="background-color:{{party color|Nepal Communist Party}}" |
|CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) |Rishikesh Pokharel |34,014 |
| style="background-color:pink" |
|Federal Socialist Forum, Nepal |Yuvraj Karki |2,595 |
| style="background-color:#ffb300" |
|Mahendra Lal Das Kevrat |2,082 |
| | colspan="2" |Others
|1,279 |
| colspan="3" |Invalid votes
|4,460 |
| colspan="2" |Result
! colspan="2" |Congress gain |
| colspan="4" |Source: [https://result.election.gov.np/ElectionResultCentral.aspx Election Commission] |