The faction of Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba has emerged victorious in three provinces as the grand old party has finished provincial convention in six provinces.
The faction of Senior Leader Ram Chandra Paudel has won in two provinces and that of Krishna Sitaula in one. Province 2 has yet to hold provincial convention with convention in federal and provincial constituencies not completed in some districts. Even rural/municipality convention and ward convention have not been held in a few districtss.
The Deuba and Paudel faction mainly competed across the country while the alliance of Deuba and Sitaula factions in Province 1 and Bagmati has denied the Paudel faction victory in those two provinces.
Uddhav Thapa, from the faction of Sitaula and supported by that of Deuba, secured 844 votes to defeat central member Guru Raj Ghimire from the Ram Chandra Paudel faction by two votes as the results arrived Monday morning. Ghimire, however, has demanded recounting.
Indra Bahadur Baniya, from the Deuba faction, has been elected Bagmati president securing 1,058 votes to beat Jagadish Narsingh KC (927) of the Paudel faction.
Baniya was elected Sunday night after the second round of election as none of the three candidates could secure more than 50 percent of votes. Bhimsen Das Pradhan from the Sitaula faction, who finished third in the first round, supported Baniya in the second round of election.
Shukra Raj Sharma, from the Paudel faction, has been elected Gandaki president securing 612 votes to beat Arjun Joshi (528) of the Deuba faction.
Amar Singh Pun, from the Paudel faction, has been elected Lumbini president securing 852 votes to beat Bharat Kumar Shah (767) of the Deuba faction.
Lalit Jung Shahi, from the Deuba faction, has been elected Karnali president securing 422 votes to beat Bhupendra Jung Shahi (317) of the Paudel faction.
NC Vice-president Bimalendra Nidhi, who is from the Deuba faction but is aspiring to challenge Deuba as the party president, fielded Moti Lal Bam as his candidate for president in Karnali province but Bam received just seven votes as the winner was declared in the first round of election itself despite three candidates contesting for the post.
Central member Bir Bahadur Balayar, from the Deuba faction, has been elected Far West president securing 688 votes to beat Narayan Dutta Mishra (280) of the Paudel faction.
The two factions has initially tried to complete the convention in consensus but the stronger Deuba faction ultimately opted for election pointing that the Paudel faction demanded more office-bearers.
