KATHMANDU, MAY 17
Ruling coalition candidates are leading in four of the six metropolises - Lalitpur, Biratnagar, Pokhara, and Birgunj. In Kathmandu, independent candidate Balen Shah is way ahead of his nearest rival and in Bharatpur, CPN-Maoist Centre's Renu Dahal leads the race.
As per the initial vote count, in Kathmandu, independent candidate for mayor, Balen Shah, continues to lead the race with a huge margin. Until 08:30pm, Shah had got 12,877 votes, leaving his nearest rival -- UML's Keshav Sthaplit -- way behind with 6,878 votes. NC candidate Srijana Singh has got 6,101 votes.
In Lalitpur, NC candidate for mayor Chiribabu Maharjan, who is the common candidate of the ruling coalition, leads the race with a huge margin. Maharjan, who is vying for the post a second time, has so far got 8,534 votes. UML's Hari Krishna Byanjankar trails Maharjan with 3,785 votes. Rastriya Prajatantra Party's Asta Bahadur Maharjan has got 795 votes.
In Biratnagar, NC candidate for mayor Nagesh Koirala, who is the common candidate of the ruling coalition, continues to lead the race with 10,363 votes.
UML's Sagar Thapa trails Koiralawith 7,882 votes. Independent candidate Umesh Kumar Yadav has scored 3,361 votes.
In Bharatpur, CPN-MC candidate Renu Dahal leads the race with 7,351 votes. UML's Bijay Subedi is not far behind with 7,028 votes. Independent candidate Jagannath Paudel has got 3,562 votes.
In Pokhara, CPN (Unified Socialist) candidate Dhanraj Acharya, who is supported by the ruling coalition, leads the race with 11,812 votes. UML's Krishna Thapa trails Acharya with 10,062 votes. Rastriya Prajatantra Party candidate Shankar Kharal has got 1,721 votes.
In Birgunj, Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal candidate for mayor Rajeshman Singh, who is supported by the ruling coalition, has polled 9,768 votes.
UML's Bijay Kumar Sarabagi has got 4,246 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 got only 341 votes.
Till 6:00pm, the NC had won mayoral race in 156 rural municipalities/municipalities followed by CPN-UML's 104, CPN-MC's 76, CPN (Unified Socialist)'s five, and Janata Samajbadi Party-Nepal's four.
A version of this article appears in the print on May 18, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
