DANG, July 7: CPN-UML leader Ghanshyam Pandey has been elected mayor of Tulsipur Sub-metropolitan City defeating Nepali Congress candidate Gehendra Giri.
Pandey garnered 22,857 votes to win the mayoral contest in the city while his nearest rival Giri received 18,903 votes. CPN (Maoist Center) candidate Seshram Bhandari got a distant 8,693 votes.
Pandey, a former president of Federation of Community Forest Users' Group Nepal, was elected deputy mayor of the city in the local elections of 1997 at the age of 23.
Since local election was not conducted even after its five-year term expired in 2002, Pandey joined the community forest uses' group as its member. Later, he managed to run the federation and currently heads the Global Alliance of Community Forest.
UML had fielded him as mayor of the same city. Pandey proved his influence this time as well by defeating the former lawmaker Giri.
UML's candidate Maya Acharya got elected to the post of deputy mayor with 21,037 votes. Acharya's nearest rival Devaki Nepali of NC received 20,185 votes while Sita Oli of the Maoist Center received 9,051 votes.
Acharya is the wife of late UML leader Shrimani Acharya, who was living with a bullet lodged in his body after a group led By NC leader Khum Bahadur Khadka opened fire at him in an election rally during 1994's parliament elections.
UML has bagged the posts of chief and deputy chief in two sub-metropolitan cities-Ghorahi and Tulsipur-- and a municipality, Lamahi Municipality, in the district. Apart from these, the UML party has also won elections in three rural municipalities. NC has won the chair of three rural municipalities in the district while Maoist Center emerged victorious in Banglachuli Rural Municipality.
UML candidates win mayor/deputy mayor in Tulsipur
