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Khanal continues to lead in the race for UML Chairman (6:00 PM)

As the vote counting is ongoing at the UML General Convention in Butwal, the immediate past president of CPN (UML) Jhala Nath Khanal continues to lead with a larger margin.

According to the latest update on Tuesday, the second day of vote counting, Khanal has secured 834 votes, while KP Sharma Oli has secured 730 votes.

For the post of General Secretary Ishwar Pokhrel has secured 860 votes and Pradip Nepal has secured 664.

Among the contestants for the post of Vice-Chairmen, Ashok Rai is leading with 1095 votes, Bamdev Gautam 813, Bidhya Bhandari 786, Bhim Rawal 686, Bharat Mohan Adhikari 544 and Sahana Pradhan has secured 561 votes.

For the post of secretary Bishnu Poudel has led with 1153 votes, Shanker Pokhrel has secured 986, Yubaraj Gyawali 759, Raghubir Mahaseth 645, Rajendra Shrestha 615 and Ram Chandra Jha has secured 445 votes.

Rai and Poudel are confirmed to win with these votes alone. The new statute has provisions for three Vice-chairmen and secretaries.

The delay in vote counting is attributed to the cumbersome ballot papers. Six ballot papers were used for the election.

The result for the key positions mentioned above is expected to be announced late today. However, the counting for Central Committee members and other two commissions has got little progress so far. nepalnews.com ta Feb 24 09