KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 16
Nepali Congress leaders Gagan Kumar Thapa and Bishwa Prakash Sharma have been elected the general-secretaries of the party.
Thapa, the leading candidate in the band of hopefuls for the post, secured the highest number of votes enjoying an edgy beginning which was maintained throughout the counting process.
He had announced his candidacy for the post from Shekhar Koirala’s panel. Koirala was defeated by Deuba in the polls for party president.
The next highest number of votes were received by Sharma, who also widened the gap between himself and other contenders midway through the vote-count. Sharma belongs to Prakash Man Singh’s camp.
Singh had, in the run-off for party president election, thrown his weight behind Deuba, deserting his earlier committment to fight for leadership change in the party.
Meanwhile, Prakash Sharan Mahat who was considered a strong contender for the post since he belonged to the NC President and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s faction, had to settle for the third spot.
Likewise, Pradeep Paudel who also represented camp-Deuba came in fourth. He was backed by NC leader Krishna Prasad Sitaula.
In the similar manner, Defence Minister Minendra Rijal who was also vying to get elected as NC general-secretary garnered relatively low numbers, standing fifth in the race. He contested the election from Koirala’s panel.
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By the time 4390 votes were counted, the tally looked as following:
Thapa: 2823
Sharma: 1828
Mahat: 1455
Paudel: 1303
Rijal: 753
Karki: 100
The vote counting officials are yet to make a formal announcement of the results.