Vote counting halted in Dipayal Silgadhi municipality

Doti - Vote counting under the second phase local level election has been halted in Dipayal Silgadhi Municipality after 20 votes were found missing at a ward in the municipality. 

The counting of votes had already been completed for Ward numbers 1 to 8 of the municipality. The vote counting at ward number 9 has been suspended after 20 ballot papers were found missing, election officer Nara Narayan Poudel said. 

Altogether 1088 votes were cast in the ward and 20 votes have been found missing while counting, the Office of the Election Officer stated. 

As per the election results declared for ward number 1 to 8, CPN (UML)'s mayoral candidate Manju Malasi has got 3,872 votes while her nearest rival Nepali Congress' mayoral candidate Bijaya Khadka (Baji) has secured 3,857 votes. Similarly, UML deputy mayoral candidate Shiva Raj Khadka has secured 4,046 votes while his closest contender Prosis Mahara of the Nepali Congress has bagged 3,783 votes.