KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 15

Sher Bahadur Deuba has defeated Shekhar Koirala, reclaiming his post, in the second round of polls held to elect President of Nepali Congress at the ongoing general convention of the party.

Deuba received 2733 votes against Koirala's 1855 votes as the former secured the support of two previous contenders for the post -- Prakash Man Singh and Bimalendra Nidhi -- who were both thrown off the ring in the primary round.

A total of 4623 votes were cast of which 35 were invalidated.

The run-off was declared as the leading contestant, Deuba, was unable to cross over 50 per cent of total votes cast, thus leading to a face-off between the top two gainers.

In the first phase, Deuba had secured 2258 votes while Koirala received 1702 votes.

In a sudden turn of events, Nidhi and Singh-- who both had announced their candidacies against Deuba stating that he was no longer relevant or fit to run the party, accusing him of disregarding party laws and norms -- had declared their support for Deuba, contradicting their previous stance to support the rival faction if and when the contest moved to the second round.

Another contestant Kalyan Gurung too had announced his support for Deuba.

Deuba had personally met Singh and Nidhi prior to the run-off following which the two had immediately released their respective statements in the party chief's favour.