KATHMANDU, MAY 19
Ruling coalition candidates continue to lead the mayoral race in five of the six metropolises - Lalitpur, Bharatpur, Biratnagar, Pokhara, and Birgunj.
However, in Kathmandu, independent candidate Balen Shah is way ahead of his nearest rival, the CPN-UML's Keshav Sthapit. As per the initial vote count, until 08:30pm, Shah had obtained 24,335votes. His nearest rival Sthapit trails Shah with 12,712 votes.
NC candidate Srijana Shrestha has got 11,916 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 17,891 votes. UML's Hari Krishna Byanjankar trails Maharjan with 10,188 votes.
Rastriya Prajatantra Party's Asta Bahadur Maharjan has got 1,436 votes.
In Biratnagar, NC candidate for mayor Nagesh Koirala, who is the common candidate of the ruling coalition, continues to lead the race with 19,173 votes. UML's Sagar Thapa trails Koirala with 14,338 votes. Independent candidate Umesh Kumar Yadav has got 4,806 votes.
In Bharatpur, CPN-Maoist Centre's Renu Dahal leads the race with 17,437 votes. UML's Bijay Subedi is not far behind with 14,159 votes. Independent candidate Jagannath Paudel has got 7,080 votes.
In Pokhara, CPN (Unified Socialist) candidate Dhanraj Acharya, who is supported by the ruling coalition, leads the race with 22,825 votes.
UML's Krishna Thapa trails Acharya with 20,132 votes. Rastriya Prajatantra Party candidate Shankar Kharal has got 2,304 votes.
In Birgunj, Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal candidate for mayor Rajeshman Singh, who is supported by the ruling coalition, has polled 19,429 votes, whereas UML's Bijay Kumar Sarabagi has got 10,161 votes. Sarabagi, who resigned as the mayor of Birgunj to contest the mayoral race for the second time, had defected from the JSP-N and joined the UML. RPP's Girish Giri has so far got only 862 votes.
Till 8:00pm, the NC had won mayoral race in 262 rural municipalities/municipalities, followed by UML in 167, CPN-MC in 106, Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal in 14, and CPN (Unified Socialist) in 14.
A version of this article appears in the print on May 20, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
