Agni Prasad Sapkota (; born 7 March 1958) is a Nepalese politician and former speaker of the House of Representatives. He was elected speaker unopposed on 26 January 2020, after the previous speaker, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, resigned over allegations of attempted sexual assault. Sapkota previously served as a minister in the cabinets of prime ministers Jhala Nath Khanal and KP Sharma Oli. Early political career Sapkota started his early political life as a student activist in 1975. He registered as a general member of the Communist Party of Nepal (Fourth Convention) in 1978 and served as the founding secretary of the Sindhupalchok district chapter of the party in 1980. He became a full-time political activist in 1991, resigning from the post of headmaster of a high school. He filed his candidacy for the House of Representatives in the 1991 elections, but was unable to get on the ballot. Sapkota became a central committee member of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, in 1995, after the party split from the Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre). Maoist insurrection When the CPN (Maoist) decided to initiate an armed struggle, he went underground in 1996 and continuously led the movement. He led several party committees and commanded troops of the PLA during the 10-year-long people's war. He was elected politburo member from the party's second national conference held in February 2001. He was also elected a central member of the 41-member United Revolutionary People's Council, a parallel state administration exercised by the Maoists, announced in November 2001. Sapkota, along with Krishna Bahadur Mahara and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, were members of a dialogue team setup by the Maoists to hold peace talks with the government in 2001, which was unsuccessful in finding a middle ground after three rounds of meetings. Murder case of Arjun Lama Sapkota has been alleged for the murder of Arjun Lama in 2005. Lama was abducted by maoists on 19 April 2005. Lama's wife tried to file a police report against maoists including Agni Sapkota, but the police refused to register fearing reprisals by maoists. Eventually, a writ was filed in Supreme Court and the court ordered Kavre Police to register the murder case on 11 August 2008. Parliamentary career After the end of the Maoist insurrection, Sapkota was elected to the Constituent Assembly in April 2008 which the Maoists won in a landslide. He