Kathmandu, 10 October (H.S.): Gagan Thapa has been elected president of the Nepali Congress at the party’s 15th General Convention, defeating his rival, Shyam Krishna Khadgi, by a commanding margin.

Thapa secured 6,584 votes, while Khadgi received 375 votes.

According to Mahesh Gautam, a member of the convention’s media centre, vote counting began late Friday night at the Rastriya Sabha Griha in Kathmandu and concluded on Saturday morning.

The election committee said that 7,039 of the 7,317 delegates registered for the convention had cast their votes. Of these, 54 ballot papers were declared invalid.

Ballot papers cast for positions other than the party president are being taken to the Nepali Congress central office in Sanepa for counting. The counting for these posts is yet to be completed.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar