Kathmandu, March 7
Nepali Congress senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba emerged as the most popular candidate for party president, but he could not win the election as he fell short by just 11 votes.
Of the 3,148 votes cast, Deuba received 1,534, his competitors Ramchandra Paudel and Krishna Sitaula received 1,154 and 324 votes respectively. A total of 101 votes were deemed invalid.
According to the party’s statute, a candidate needs to secure more than 50 per cent of the votes cast to win the presidency. During the first round, the number was 1,575.
The second round of voting will see Deuba and Paudel contest each other for the top post. Sitaula is now out of the race.
