CHITWAN, MAY 17
Renu Dahal, the candidate of the five-party coalition, and Bijay Subedi, the candidate of the CPN UML, are locked in a tight battle for the mayorship of Bharatpur Metropolitan City, in the ongoing vote counting.
Both candidates have been swapping leads as vote counting in four wards has come to a close, and vote counting in Ward 5 continues.
According to the most recent tally, Dahal is leading with 6,019 votes, and is closely followed by Subedi with 5,956 votes.
Meanwhile, independent candidate Jagannath Poudel has received 2,378 votes.
Similarly, Nepali Congress deputy mayoral candidate Chitrasen Adhikari has garnered 7,346 votes, while Rastrya Prajantra Party candidate Himala Gurung obtained 4,883 votes. CPN UML and RPP had forged a coalition against the ruling alliance in Bharatpur's local elections.
Arpan Pokhrel of the Nepali Congress was elected ward chair of Bharatpur-4 with 2,530 votes, according to results released this morning.
Bhanu Bhakta Sapkota, a CPN UML candidate, came in second with 1,633 votes.
Furthermore, the post of ward chair for Ward 1,2, and 4 were secured by Nepali Congress candidates, while Ward 3 was won by CPN UML.
Bharatpur metropolis has 29 wards, wherein 127,839 votes were cast in the local level elections held on May 13.
The votes are being counted chronologically, beginning with Ward 1.
In the Bharatpur metropolis, 1,847 ballots have been tallied thus far.
