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.[1] Related to the royal family,[2] she married Meen Shumsher J.B. Rana, an army general. Their son Anoop Shumsher Rana later founded Necon Air.[3] Rana earned a master's degree in political science at Tribhuvan University.[4][5][3] She established the Women's Volunteer Services in 1952,[6] and in the same year was appointed vice-chair of the National Assembly.[7] She later served in the Advisory Assembly from 1958 to 1959.[5]
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.[2] In July 1959 she was elected chair of the Maha Sabha.[8] 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.[5] She also served in the Rastriya Panchayat, was a founder member of the Nepal Red Cross Society in 1963 and was chair of the Nepal Family Planning Association.[3]
Following the 1980 referendum on the system of government, she was appointed to the eleven-member Constitution Reform Recommendation Commission by King Birendra.[4]
Rana died on 19 February 2026, at the age of 98.[3]