Who is Sushila Karki, Nepal’s first woman PM with deep Varanasi roots

Sushila Karki

Sushila Karki, who has now become Nepal’s first woman prime minister of an interim government, has a deep connection with India, especially with Varanasi. She studied at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and earned her MA in Political Science in 1975.

During her time at BHU, she met her husband, Durga Prasad Subedi, who was also a student there. Subedi went on to play a significant role in Nepal’s political history as one of the leaders of the country’s first plane hijacking in 1973, The Times of India reported.

The incident involved a Royal Nepal Airlines Twin Otter aircraft that carried several passengers, including Bollywood actress Mala Sinha. The hijacking was a political act aimed at funding the rebellion against the Panchayat regime of King Mahendra. The plan was linked with members of the Nepali Congress, including future prime ministers Girija Prasad Koirala and Sushil Koirala.

According to the report, the hijackers forced the aircraft to land in Forbesganj, a town in Bihar near the Nepal border. They escaped into the forests with bags of cash belonging to a Nepalese bank. Subedi later hid in Varanasi before being arrested during the Emergency in India (1975–77). He spent two years in jail before being handed over to Nepalese authorities.

A reputation for honesty and neutrality

Despite the dramatic history of her husband, Sushila Karki built her own identity in law and justice. She was born on June 7, 1952, in Biratnagar. After completing her BA in 1972, she went on to earn her MA at BHU in 1975, and later a law degree from Tribhuvan University in 1978. Her legal career began in 1979, and she rose steadily in Nepal’s judiciary, becoming a senior advocate in 2007 and later a Supreme Court judge in 2010.

She went on to serve as the acting chief justice of Nepal’s Supreme Court in 2016 and became the chief justice from April 2016 to June 2017. She delivered several landmark judgments that earned her respect across political lines.

Former BHU professor and Gandhian scholar Dipak Malik, who knew her from her student days, describes her as a person of honesty, neutrality, and courage. He said he has always found her warm and approachable whenever he visited Nepal, TOI reported.

Calling herself a “friend of India”

In a recent interview to CNN-News18, Karki called herself a "friend of India", attributing this bond to her time at BHU. She acknowledged India’s goodwill and support towards Nepal and said she has a positive impression of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

At 73, Sushila Karki has now stepped into Nepal’s top political role at a sensitive time.