KATHMANDU, MAY 21

Nepali Congress candidate for mayor in Biratnagar Metropolitan City became the first candidate from the ruling alliance to win a metropolitan city race.

In Biratnagar, NC candidate Nagesh Koirala, won the mayoral race with 30,170 votes. His nearest rival was CPN-UML's Sagar Thapa who got 21,455 votes. Independent candidate Umesh Kumar Yadav received 8,795 votes.

Ruling coalition candidates continue to lead the mayoral race in four other metropolises - Lalitpur, Bharatpur, Pokhara, and Birgunj.

In Kathmandu, independent candidate Balen Shah is way ahead of his nearest rival CPN- UML's Keshav Sthapit. Until 08:30pm, Shah had obtained 35,751 votes. His nearest rival Sthapit trails Shah with 19,515 votes. NC candidate Srijana Shrestha has got 19,458 votes.

In Lalitpur, NC's Chiribabu Maharjan, who is vying for the mayor's post for the second time, leads the race with a huge margin. Maharjan has so far got 27,242 votes. UML's Hari Krishna Byanjankar trails Maharjan with 15,983 votes. Rastriya Prajatantra Party's Asta Bahadur Maharjan has got 2,610 votes.

In Bharatpur, CPN-Maoist Centre's Renu Dahal leads the race with 29,675 votes. UML's Bijay Subedi trails her with 23,861 votes. Independent candidate Jagannath Paudel has got 10,424votes.

In Pokhara, CPN (Unified Socialist) candidate Dhanraj Acharya, who is supported by the ruling coalition, leads the race with 37,122 votes. UML's Krishna Thapa trails Acharya with 33,850 votes. Rastriya Prajatantra Party candidate Shankar Kharal has got 4,228 votes.

In Birgunj, Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal candidate for mayor Rajeshman Singh, who is supported by the ruling coalition, has garnered 27,515 votes, whereas UML's Bijay Kumar Sarabagi has got 14,233 votes.

Till 8:30pm, the NC had won mayoral race in 308 rural municipalities/municipalities, followed by UML in 188, CPN-MC in 119, Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal in 25, and CPN (Unified Socialist) in 17. w a n ti p

A version of this article appears in the print on May 22, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.