Parbat Gurung

Gurung was born in 1968 in (then) Suri VDC of Dolakha district in Eastern Nepal. Soon after completing his primary education and leaving home to pursue his studies, Parbat Gurung started his political career at the tender age of thirteen as a member of the student wing of the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) - United Marxist Leninist (UML). It was 1990 – the year of the multi-party movement against the autocratic regime. Gurung left Kathmandu for his village to participate in political demonstrations. Although he was approached by political student leaders to join the central student wing, Gurung wanted to continue his political activities in his own village.

The CPN-UML nominated Gurung to run in the local election of 1993, though he was not yet twenty-five, the minimum age. His electoral area was dominated by the Nepali Congress, yet Gurung predicted a CPN-UML victory, and it came to be. Within a few years, he moved from local politics to the District Development Committee. By the end of the nineties, he was already very popular in politics.

Gurung was one of the most talked-about politicians after general elections of 2017. He won the election by defeating Rudra Bahadur Khadka of Nepali Congress by a huge margin of 30,644 votes.[4]

As a former social entrepreneur, Gurung strongly believes in the economic empowerment of women and marginal communities. He has also established the Youth Entrepreneurship School (YES) with the sole objective to provide a solid foundation for aspiring young entrepreneurs. Within a year of its establishment, the school began playing a major role in providing mentorship. YES has also become a platform for potential entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas and meet potential investors.