Nepali Congress-led coalition inches towards majority in parliamentary elections
Kathmandu, November 22
The Nepali Congress-led coalition was on Tuesday inching closer to securing a majority in the parliamentary elections in Nepal, with the ruling alliance winning or leading in nearly 70 seats, according to latest trends.
The main opposition Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) has so far bagged two seats and is leading in 40 others.
The NC-led alliance includes CPN-Maoist Centre and CPN-Unified Socialist parties.
Elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) and seven provincial assemblies were held on Sunday. The counting of votes started on Monday.
Out of 275 Members of Parliament, 165 will be elected through direct voting, while the remaining 110 will be elected through a proportional electoral system. Similarly, out of a total of 550 members of the provincial assemblies, 330 will be elected directly and 220 will be elected through the proportional method.
According to Election Commission officials, the Nepali Congress opened its account in Kathmandu with senior NC leader Prakash Man Singh winning the Kathmandu 1 constituency. Singh secured 7,140 votes against his nearest rival Ravindra Mishra from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) who secured 7,011 votes.
NC General Secretary Gagan Thapa won the House of Representatives election from Kathmandu Constituency No 4 by a margin of about 7,500 votes. He defeated Rajan Bhattarai of CPM-UML. While Thapa bagged 21,294 votes, Bhattarai got 13,853 votes.
Prime Minister and NC president Sher Bahadur Deuba is leading by 6,124 votes against his nearest contender Sagar Dhakal in Dadeldhura. Deuba has so far secured 13,126 votes, while independent candidate Dhakal garnered 7,002 votes.
NC also won a HoR seat in Manag district with Tek Bahadur Gurung winning the election by securing 2,547 votes against his nearest rival Palden Gurung of CPM-UML who secured 2,247 votes.
The party also won a HoR in Mustang constituency with Yogendra Thakali defeating Prem Prasad Tulachan of CPN-UML with a margin of 914 votes. Thakali got 3,992 votes, while Tulachan bagged 3,078 votes as per the final results.
According to Election Commission officials, NC is leading in 47 other HoR seats.
Meanwhile, the main opposition CPN-UML bagged its first seat from Lalitpur-2 constituency where Prem Bahadur Maharjan defeated Sudin Shakya of Hamro Nepali Party by a margin of 6,139 votes. Maharjan bagged 15,025 votes, while his closest rival Shakya totalled 8,886 votes.
Krishna Gopal Shrestha of CPN-UML won the HoR seat from Kathmandu-9 constituency. He secured 11,956 votes against his nearest rival Tek Bahadur Pokharel of Rastriya Swotantra Party who secured 10,961 votes.
According to Election Commission officials, CPN-UML is leading in 40 other HoR seats.
Meanwhile, CPN-Maoist chairman Pushpakamal Dahal “Prachanda” is leading in Gorkha-2 constituency. He has so far bagged 7,057 votes against his nearest rival Kavindra Burlakoti of RSP who got 1,929 votes.
Former prime minister and CPN-UML chairman leader K P Sharma Oli is leading in Jhapa 5 constituency with 15,510 votes against his nearest NC rival Khagendra Adhikari who so far secured 8,955 votes.
Nagarik Unmukti Party candidate Gangaram Chaudhary won the HoR election from Kailali-3 constituency. He got 23,120 votes, defeating Kundan Chaudhary of CPN-Maoist Centre who secured 17,749 votes.
According to Election Commission officials, CPN-Maoist Centre is leading in 14 HoR seats, Rastriya Swotantra Party in 11, CPN-Unified Socialist in 7, Rastriya Prajatantra Party in 6 and Nagarik Unmukti Party in 3 seats.
