(All photos: Bimal Khatiwada)

The CPN (Maoist Centre) and Nepali Congress (NC) on Sunday organised a joint victory rally in Bharatpur Metropolitan City following the election of their respective candidates to the post of mayor and deputy mayor in the metro city.

CPN (Maoist Centre) candidate Renu Dahal was elected as mayor, while NC candidate Parbati Shah was elected deputy mayor. The two parties had forged electoral alliance in Bharatpur.

Cadres of Maoists and NC from all the wards of the metropolitan marked their presence during the rally. Thousands of cadres started the rally from Chaubishkothi and marched through Lionschok, Sahidchok and Pulchok, Narayangad and finally converged at Chaubishkothi.

CPN (Maoist Centre)’s Renu Dahal has defeated CPN-UML’s Devi Gyawali by 203 votes to become the mayor of Bharatpur Metropolitan City.

Elections in Bharatpur Metropolitan City were held on May 14, but the fracas on the night of May 28, in which Maoist Centre representatives had allegedly torn 90 ballot papers, had led to the halt of vote counting. Counting of votes of Ward 19 was underway at that time and the UML’s Gyawali was leading Dahal by around 700 votes.

Following the incident, the Election Commission on June 3 had decided to conduct re-election in Ward 19.