DARCHULA: Dhan Bahadur Kunwar of Nepali Congress has won the post of ward chair of Duhun Rural Municipality-5 of Darchula in the by-elections held today. Kunwar secured victory with a total of 376 votes, edging out his closest competitor in a closely contested race.
According to National News Agency Nepal, Kunwar’s nearest rival, Mansingh Badal of the CPN (UML), garnered 363 votes. Other candidates included Bir Singh Karki of the CPN (Maoist Centre), who received 98 votes, and independent candidate Lal Singh Kunwar, who obtained 25 votes. The election also recorded 15 invalid votes.
In the by-election, 877 out of 1,272 registered voters cast their votes, resulting in a voter turnout of 69.94 percent. The by-election was necessitated by the passing of Manorath Bhatta, the ward president elected from the Maoist Center in the local-level elections held in 2079 BS.