Balendra Shah, an independent candidate, has won the mayoral race of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City.
He garnered 61,767 votes to beat Sirjana Singh of the Nepali Congress by 23,426 votes in the final counting results of the local level polls held on May 13, according to the Election Commission.
Singh secured 38,341 votes. Another contestant Keshav Sthapit from the CPN-UML secured 38,117.
Shah, 32, who is fondly known as ‘Balen’, is a rapper and structural engineer.
Meanwhile, Sunita Dangol, a candidate from the CPN-UML, has won the deputy mayor post with 68,612 votes. She defeated Rameshwor Shrestha of CPN (Unified Socialist) who secured 23,806 votes.
Anup Ojha was a reporter for The Kathmandu Post primarily covering social issues, crime, and human interest stories since 2011. Before moving to the social beat, Ojha covered arts and culture for the Post for four years.
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