Former Minister and a leader of the ruling Nepali Congress (Democratic), Bal Bahadur KC, is finally married at the age of 52.

KC and has long-running fiancé, Rina Upreti, finally tied their knot on Sunday at a ceremony in the capital Sunday. Though the ceremony was strictly for family members and close friends only, some leaders and cadres of the ruling party managed to be in time to witness the ceremony, reports said.

Typical to women, Upreti did not tell her age but said the age difference between her and her bridegroom was not more than 20 years. “Marriages are made in heaven,” she told reporters philosophically.

Former president of Free Students Union at the Padma Kanya Campus, Upreti, is a well-known student activist affiliated to the Nepal Students Union (NSU). “I will continue my political activities even after marriage,” said Upreti, at the nod of her husband.

A fire-brand student leader, KC led the student movement in the eighties that led then King Birendra to declare referendum between the ‘Panchayat polity with reforms’ and multi-party democracy. As Panchayat was declared winner, KC continued his involvement in opposition politics.

After the restoration of democracy in 1990, KC joined the group of 36 dissident Nepali Congress MPs that led then premier G P Koirala to dissolve the parliament and call snap polls—the event that led to a hung parliament and a series of short-lived governments.

Born in the eastern mountain district of Solukhumbu, KC has held a number of portfolios in various governments. KC was in the news—for the wrong reasons—when he visited the house of a ‘woman friend’ in the mid-night when he was still a minister. The woman—whose husband was away in Japan—later alleged the minister of harassing her.

Recently, KC was in the news for opposing Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s insistence to go for polls. “Polls can’t be held in present circumstances. So, restoration of the dissolved parliament could also be an option,” he said.

Interestingly, Deuba himself got married when he was Home Minister under the Koirala government in the early nineties. He and his wife, Dr Arzoo Deuba, are looking for their second child, a baby girl, this year, according to reports.

Many Congress leaders are still unmarried. Besides former prime minister K P Bhattarai, senior NC leaders Shailaja Acharya and Sushil Koirala are bachelors. When asked what led him to decide to finally tie a knot, KC told reporters, “I am a religious person and may be, it is all because of my fate that I remained single for so long,” said KC. “Now a new life has begun and I will have to bear family responsibility as well,” he added. nepalnews.com by Jan 31 05