Rajbiraj, September 19

Vote counting began in all local bodies except in Rajbiraj Municipality in Saptari today.

The district comprises a total of 18 local bodies, including nine municipalities and as many rural municipalities.

As per sources at the Election Office, vote counting in Rajbiraj will begin from Friday.

As for the voting that was halted in Ward-15 of the municipality owing to the death of Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal ward chairperson candidate Mahanthi Yadav, it will be held on Thursday.

As per the preliminary vote count results, RJP-N has taken the lead in three places, while Federal Socialist Forum Nepal, Nepali Congress and CPN-UML have taken the lead in two places each.

In Saptakoshi Municipality, UML mayoral candidate Uttam Sharma is leading with the CPN-MC candidate Dhruv Karki close behind.

While NC mayoral candidate Kiran Bhagat is leading in Khadak Municipality, RJP-N mayoral candidate Satish Singh is leading in Tilathi Koiladi Rural Municipality.

Likewise, Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal mayoral candidates are leading in Bishnupur Rural Municipality and Hanuman Nagar Kankalani Municipality, while RJP-N, UML and NC candidates are leading in Krishnasawaran Rural Municipality, Surunga Municipality and Belchi Chapena Rural Municipality respectively.

According to District Election Office Chief Mahesh Thakur, the final results of all 18 local bodies will be published in five days. Security has been beefed up at the vote counting sites.