Kamal Rana

Kamal Rana (; 1928 – 19 February 2026) was a Nepalese politician. She was appointed to the Maha Sabha in 1959, becoming its first female member. Rana and Dwarika Devi Thakurani, who had been elected to the House of Representatives were the first women in the Nepalese parliament.

Life and career Rana was born in Tansen in 1928, the daughter of Raja Tarak Bahadur Shah and Dibyashori Shah; her brother Rishikesh Shah also became a politician. Related to the royal family, and in the same year was appointed vice-chair of the National Assembly. She later served in the Advisory Assembly from 1958 to 1959.

Following the introduction of the 1959 constitution, a bicameral parliament was created with an elected House of Representatives and an appointed Maha Sabha (Senate). In the 1959 elections one woman – Dwarika Devi Thakurani – was elected, while Rana was the sole woman appointed to the new Maha Sabha by King Mahendra. In July 1959 she was elected chair of the Maha Sabha. In 1962 she was a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly and between 1963 and 1965 sat on the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.