KATHMANDU, MAY 22

Ruling alliance candidates continue to lead in four metropolitan cities - Lalitpur, Bharatpur, Pokhara, and Birgunj.

Of the six metros, the ruling alliance has already won the mayoral race in Biratnagar, with Nepali Congress' Nagesh Koirala winning the prize seat.

Until 08:30pm, independent candidate Balen Shah was leading the mayoral race in Kathmandu with a huge margin. He has polled 41,279 votes so far, with NC's Srijana Singh polling 23,855 votes, and Keshav Sthapit 23,024 votes.

In Lalitpur, NC's Chiribabu Maharjan, who is vying for the mayor's post for the second time, is leading with 32,378 votes; UML's Hari Krishna Byanjankar has got 18,886 votes, and Rastriya Prajatantra Party's Asta Bahadur Maharjan is third with 3,156 votes.

In Bharatpur, CPN-Maoist Centre's Renu Dahal leads the race with 39,156 votes, UML's Bijay Subedi has got 30,488 votes, and independent candidate Jagannath Paudel has 12,732 votes.

In Pokhara, CPN (Unified Socialist) candidate Dhanraj Acharya, who is supported by the ruling coalition, leads with 43,565 votes; UML's Krishna Thapa has 40,123 votes, and RPP's Shankar Kharal is way behind with 4,856 votes.

In Birgunj, Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal candidate for mayor Rajeshman Singh, who is supported by the ruling coalition, is leading with 33,919 votes, whereas UML's Bijay Kumar Sarabagi has got 17,808 votes.

Till 8:30pm, the Nepali Congress had won mayoral contest in 314 rural municipalities/municipalities, followed by CPN- UML (193), CPN-MC (120), Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal (29), and CPN (Unified Socialist) (17).

A version of this article appears in the print on May 23, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.