The three-day convention of the ANNFSU was inaugurated on February 11 but could not conclude on time because of the disputes over convention representatives and some provisions related to the voting process. With only 47 votes counted by late evening, the candidates for the post of president, Deepak Gautam and Nabina Lama had won 24 and 23 votes respectively.
As per the election committee formed by the party, the vote counting started since 5 pm at the party office at Dhumbarahi amid tight security. According to a student leader Sudip Sharma, the vote counting may last till Sunday. Of the 1,597 voters, only 1,519 representatives participated in the voting.
Many representatives speculated that whoever wins the post of union's presidency might do so only with a slim margin. The Lama faction is loyal to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the Gautam-faction is loyal to UML senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal.
The election is being contested for 17 office-bearer posts and 141 seats for central committee members. Of the seven secretaries, four secretaries will be elected through open competition and three will be nominated from reservation quotas.
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