Independent candidate Harka Raj Rai has been elected mayor of Dharan Sub-Metropolitan City, Sunday.

Rai defeated his closest rival Kishor Rai, an alliance candidate from the Nepali Congress, by a margin of 4,762 votes.

Newly elected mayor Rai garnered 20,821 votes while Kishor got 16,059 votes. CPN-UML’s Manju Bhandari secured 12,825 votes.

CPN (Maoist Centre) candidate Aaindra Begha has been elected deputy mayor of the sub-metropolitan city. Begha, an alliance candidate, secured 20,510 votes, while his closest rival UML’s Padam Prasad Limbu received 17,606 votes.