Former Nepal Election Commissioner Ila Sharma No More

Sharma, who was a journalist prior to becoming election commissioner, was married to former Indian chief election commissioner S.Y. Quraishi.

The Wire Staff

Sharma, who was a journalist prior to becoming election commissioner, was married to former Indian chief election commissioner S.Y. Quraishi.

former nepal election commissioner ila sharma no more

Former Nepal election commissioner Ila Sharma. Photo: X/@ila_home.

New Delhi: Ila Sharma, a former election commissioner of Nepal and journalist, died on Saturday (July 12). She was 59.

Sharma's husband, former chief election commissioner of India S.Y. Quraishi, told PTI that she “suddenly collapsed while having a conversation with a friend at her Kathmandu residence”, adding that he was in an adjacent room at the time.

Nepal's President Ram Chandra Poudel and foreign minister Arzu Rana Deuba condoled Sharma's death on Sunday.

A former journalist, Sharma served as commissioner in the Election Commission of Nepal between 2013 and 2019.

During her tenure, Nepal in 2017 held its first elections to its federal legislature since the adoption of a new constitution in 2015, as well as its maiden provincial polls in 20 years, during which time a decade-long civil war took place and the country's monarchy was abolished.

Before her appointment as election commissioner, Sharma had worked for The Rising Nepal newspaper among other media houses.

Sharma is survived by two daughters, per PTI.

According to a 2016 article in The Telegraph, she and Quraishi met at a conference in Mexico on money in politics the previous year.

This article went live on July thirteenth, two thousand twenty five, at thirty-two minutes past six in the evening.

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