Rastriya Swatantra Party President Rabi Lamichhane has widened his lead as the vote count is underway in Chitwan-2.

As of 9am on Tuesday, Lamichhane is leading against his closest competitor, Jit Narayan Shrestha of the Nepali Congress, by a margin of 36,211 votes.

Lamichhane has so far received 44,486 votes, while Shrestha has bagged 8,275 votes.

Ram Prasad Neupane of the CPN-UML is third in the race with 8,217 votes.

Lamichhane was elected from the constituency in last year’s polls defeating his closest rival Umesh Shrestha of Congress by a margin of 34,170 votes.

The by-election was held in the constituency after Supreme Court annulled Lamichhane's lawmaker status over his citizenship certificate.