Kathmandu, July 6
An independent candidate has won the position of mayor in Lumbini Sanskritik Municipality in Rupandehi district as per results announced on Thursday morning.
Manmohan Chaudhary is a local leader of the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal, which had boycotted the local level elections in both the phases claiming their demands were not met by the government.
Chaudhary polled 8,957 votes to win the top post defeating Fakaruddin Kha of Federal Socialist Forum-Nepal, who was restricted to 7,039 votes.
Local leaders and cadres of the party in some districts including Kapilbastu and Rupandehi had filed nominations for the polls independently.
Senior leaders of the agitating party including Parliamentary Party Leader Sarvendra Nath Shukla and General Secretary/Chief Whip Brijesh Kumar Gupta had also backed election campaigns of their cadres in their home districts.
Earlier, Shukla and Gupta had advocated within the party to take part in the elections. The majority, however, had not accepted their line.
After Chaudhary’s win, it is likely that that RJPN will be under pressure to reconsider its boycott decision from within the party more strongly.
