The elected representatives of CPN-UML in Bharatpur Metropolitan City took the oath of office and secrecy on Monday.

The elected representatives from the main opposition party had skipped the swearing-in ceremony on Sunday saying that ‘taking part in the oath taking ceremony with the ones who tore the ballot papers would be a mockery of democracy’.

The metropolis has 69 representatives from Nepali Congress including Deputy Mayor, 70 from CPN-UML and 8 from CPN (Maoist Centre) including the city’s Mayor.

CPN (Maoist Centre)’s Renu Dahal defeated CPN-UML’s Devi Gyawali by 203 votes to become the mayor of Bharatpur Metropolitan City. The metropolis got its mayor almost two and a half months after the elections.

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. The decision was upheld by the Supreme Court on July 31, and re-election in the concerned ward was held on Friday.