Basana Thapa of the Nepali Congress has become the only female MP in Karnali by winning the House of Representatives from Dailekh-1 constituency. Born on 15 Jestha 2037 in Kathmandu Metropolitan City-9, Thapa is on her way to parliament at the age of 45.

Basana, who came to Dailekh in 2057 BS after marrying Rupak Thapa of Dailekh Narayan Municipality-2, has been active in social and political life in this area since then. She has made her way to the parliament by defeating competing candidates elected to the House of Representatives time and again.

Male candidates have won in 11 of the 12 constituencies in Karnali. Thapa received 12,372 votes in this election, while her nearest rival, Rabindra Raj Sharma of the CPN-UML, received 11,796 votes. Nandakishore Basnet of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) got 8,151 votes, while Amar Bahadur Thapa of the CPN-Unified Socialist Party received 4,256 votes. Thapa is the only woman MP elected directly from an old party during the popular wave in favor of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). In all the elections till 2048, 2051 and 2064, the Congress had an undefeated journey from this constituency.

Ganesh Bahadur Khadka of the Congress had won in the three elections till 2064 BS. But in the second constituent assembly election held in 2070 BS, the then CPN-UML leader Ammar Bahadur Thapa defeated Khadka and won. In the House of Representatives elections held since then, the Congress had voted for the plow in 2074 BS and the sickle and hammer in 2079 BS.

This is Thapa's second attempt to become a public representative. She had been a candidate for the deputy chief of Narayan Municipality in Dailekh in the local level elections held in 2074 BS. However, she was defeated by Savitri Malla of the UML. She received 4,855 votes in that election. 'It was not easy for me to compete with old and experienced leaders Rabindra Raj Sharma and Ammar Bahadur Thapa,' she said.

On the one hand, women and on the other, old and experienced leaders are her competitors. Congress had not given direct tickets to women in other districts except Dailekh. Except for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), other major parties had not given direct tickets to women in Karnali. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) had given tickets to Binita Kathayat from Jumla and Tashi Lama from Humla. But the bail of both of them was forfeited.

Born and raised in Kathmandu, Basana Thapa's family background is political. Therefore, she was interested in politics from a young age. In 2015, Basana's grandfather Nar Bahadur Thapa was elected as an MP from Kathmandu-1. Learning how to do politics from a young age, she joined the sister organization of the Nepali Congress. In 2057 BS, she joined the Nepali Congress-affiliated student organization Nevisangh. Through Nevisangh, she became an active member of the Nepali Congress in Dailekh in 2061 BS.

Thapa, who became a general convention representative in the 13th general convention of the Congress, became a member of the co-chairmanship committee in the 14th general convention. Thapa is also the owner of a hotel parking lot in the Dailekh district headquarters. She has a master's degree in sociology from Bhimrao University in India and a doctorate from the same school.

Basna's friend Uma Thapa says that Basna has had a leadership nature since childhood. Uma and Basna studied at Gyanodaya Secondary School in Kathmandu, Bafal, from grade two to SLC. 'We used to spend a lot of time together because we had family ties.' Basana was a helpful person from a young age. She had a habit of helping someone when they had a problem. She was a leader in our class and had a very assertive nature,' said Uma.