Nepali Congress candidate Krishnaman Dangol has been elected mayor of Kirtipur Municipality in the by-election held on Sunday. Dangol secured 5,334 votes, defeating his closest rival, Shivsharan Maharjan of the Maoist Centre, by 779 votes.

Maharjan received 4,555 votes, while Surendra Manandhar of the CPN-UML garnered 4,337 votes.

The by-election was held following the demise of former mayor Rajkumar Nakarmi, who passed away on July 26 last year due to a kidney-related illness. Nakarmi, also from the Congress, was elected Mayor in the 2022 local elections.

Kirtipur, historically known as a left-leaning stronghold, saw a shift in political dynamics with Nakarmi’s victory in 2022. Kirtipur was declared a municipality in 1997.