Female bodybuilder Rajani Shrestha has been elected as a member of parliament from the National Independent Party (NISP). As a bodybuilder, she has won many medals and titles by participating in competitions held at home and abroad.

Born in Morang, Rajani got married at a young age. She has a son.

She did not have a desire to become a bodybuilder. She started having health problems around the age of 30. She did not get better even after seeing many doctors during treatment. Doctors suspected cancer. She said that she did not think she would survive. She said, “This problem had brought her to the level of depression.”

Seeing that she was worried at home, one day her husband Sameer Shrestha advised her to go to the gym and after she started going to the gym, she said that the lumps on her body were disappearing. She was ready to go to the gym after her husband told her that gym and fitness can cure many diseases. She said that after starting to go to the gym, she gradually became physically fit and then started participating in various competitions.

Meanwhile, she got involved in political and social campaigns. Seeing her activism, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) included her name in the list of proportional representatives and sent it to the Election Commission. With the RSSS's victory in the elections, the door to parliament opened for her.

She has won various medals from national, South Asian, Asian and world-level competitions. She became known in the country and abroad for her passion for sports for about 10 years. This identity became a stepping stone not only in the sports field but also to reach parliament.

Rajani says that the view of women as only mothers, wives, sisters and daughters-in-law should be changed. She says that the main problem in some societies is the old narrow-minded view of girls. She said, ‘Women have now ruled the world. Our society needs to understand this.’

She said that she would raise the issues faced by Nepali players in Parliament on a priority basis. She said, ‘I will play a role in creating an environment where Nepali players are respected and play like foreign players. I will try to provide some financial support for the players’ insurance and old age. I will make every effort for this.’

Rajani has taken the issues and goals raised by the party as her main motto. ‘I will support the party in taking strict steps against good governance and corruption. It is necessary to ensure transparency by completely digitizing government services.’ Similarly, she said that she would support the party’s stance on the investigation of the assets of people holding public positions since 2046.

She has also highlighted the need for education, social security and economic reform. My contribution will be to implement a quality and practical education system by radically reforming the education sector. ‘A guarantee of social security is necessary for every citizen.’ I will support the party’s goal of ending exploitative practices such as meter interest and increasing the average annual per capita income by $300,’ she said. ‘The next thing to do is to create employment and opportunities at home.’ Creating new jobs at home is also a current need to reduce migration.