Rastriya Swatantra Party candidate Swarnim Wagle has been elected to the House of Representatives from Tanahun-1.

As per the final results of the by-election, Wagle defeated his closest competitor Govinda Bhattarai of the Nepali Congress by a margin of 14,388 votes.

Wagle received 34,480 votes, while Bhattarai got 20,092 votes.

Sarbendra Khanal of the CPN-UML stood third, garnering 8,555 votes.

Economist and former National Planning Commission vice chairman Wagle had quit Nepali Congress on March 30 in a move that had triggered a stir in the political and media circles.

Soon after the announcement, Wagle had joined the Rastriya Swatantra Party.

Wagle had said the Congress party’s activities in recent years make its ‘self-respecting’ members ashamed. He had also announced that he will be active in a new public role from the Nepali New Year 2080, with the agenda of democracy and economic progress based on good governance.

Wagle is currently the chair of the Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS), a South Asian policy think-tank established in Kathmandu in 1979. He also served in advisory roles at several international organisations including the United Nations.