KATHMANDU, MAY 23
Ruling alliance candidates continue to lead in four metropolitan cities - Lalitpur, Bharatpur, Pokhara, and Birgunj.
Nepali Congress' Nagesh Koirala has already been elected the mayor of Biratnagar.
Until 08:30pm, independent candidate Balen Shah was leading the mayoral race in Kathmandu with a huge margin. He has polled 46,966 votes so far, with NC's Srijana Singh getting 28,141 votes, and Keshav Sthapit 27,286 votes.
In Lalitpur, NC's Chiribabu Maharjan, who is vying for the mayor's post for the second time, is leading the race with 36,938 votes; UML's Hari Krishna Byanjankar has got 21,768 votes and Rastriya Prajatantra Party's Asta Bahadur Maharjan is third with 4,048 votes.
In Bharatpur, CPN-Maoist Centre's Renu Dahal leads the contest with 46,899 votes; UML's Bijay Subedi has got 35,527 votes and independent Jagannath Paudel has got 14,115 votes.
In Pokhara, CPN (Unified Socialist) candidate Dhanraj Acharya leads with 51,881 votes; UML's Krishna Thapa has got 47,571 votes and RPP's Shankar Kharal is way behind with 5,434 votes.
In Birgunj, Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal's Rajeshman Singh is leading the race with 41,628 votes, whereas UML's Bijay Kumar Sarabagi has got 21,355 votes.
Till 8:30pm, the Nepali Congress had won mayoral contest in 321 rural municipalities/municipalities, followed by CPN- UML's 200, CPN-MC's 120, Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal's 29, and CPN (Unified Socialist)'s 18.
A version of this article appears in the print on May 24, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
