Senior advocate Bijay Prasad Mishra has further widened his lead in the race for the presidency of the Nepal Bar Association, securing 4,272 votes as of the third day of counting. His closest rival, senior advocate Raman Kumar Shrestha, has received 1,843 votes so far.

Mishra is contesting from the broader democratic-progressive alliance, which continues to lead in several other key positions, including the post of general secretary. His team includes senior advocate Kedar Prasad Koirala for the general secretary position, while Shrestha’s team has advocate Yagyamani Neupane as its candidate for general secretary.

The voting for the association’s 27th central committee was held on Saturday, with around 80 percent turnout from 9,957 eligible voters.

Polling was conducted across 36 centres in Kathmandu and other parts of the country.

The Mishra group further widened the gap as vote counting was resumed at 8:00 am on Wednesday.

The Mishra group is backed by lawyers close to ruling parties Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML while Shrestha panel is supported by lawyers from opposition parties including the CPN (Maoist Centre), the Rastriya Swatantra Party and the CPN (Unified Socialist).