RAUTAHAT: Nepali congress leaders close to senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba won the party presidency in Rautahat and Sarlahi during the party’s 13th district conference. In Rautahat, Krishna Prasad Yadav beat his contender Mahamad Mahatab Alam for the post of district presidency by a margin of five votes. Yadav secured 494 votes against Alam’s 489 votes. The posts of district secretary and treasurer were, however, secured by establishment faction leaders Hridaya Narayan Yadav and Ram Shrestha Prasad Sah respectively. In Sarlahi, Nagendra Kumar Raya, a Deuba-coterie leader, made it to the post of district president, Nabin Adhikari and Babukaji Pradhan, both close to the establishment faction, were elected secretary and treasurer respectively. Raya had beaten his rival Laxman Raya, of the establishment side by securing 558 votes.