Former education minister Mahabir Pun, contesting as an independent candidate in Myagdi, has taken a commanding lead in Thursday’s parliamentary elections.

Pun has secured 5,508 votes, outpacing his closest competitor, CPN-UML’s Harikrishna Shrestha, by 3,437 votes, who received 2,071 votes. Arjun Bahadur Thapa of the Nepali Communist Party is in third place with 1,656 votes, while Nepali Congress candidate Karn Bahadur Bhandari has 1,497 votes.

Pun, supported by the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), briefly served as the Minister of Education, Science and Technology following the Jan-G movement, resigning from his ministerial post to register his candidacy on January 20 in Myagdi.

Vote counting is ongoing.