71.3% voter turnout in Gramthan

ITAHARI: The by-election to elect the chairperson of the Gramathan Rural Municipality of Morang witnessed a strong voter turnout of 71.3%.

Out of 26,044 registered voters, 18,577 voters cast their ballots on Sunday. A total of 9,677 female and 8,900 male voters cast their votes, according to Assistant Election Officer Ramraj Paudel.

The Election Commission had set up 29 polling stations and 12 centers for the voting. A total of 16 candidates, including one independent, are in the election fray. However, the main contest is expected to be between Tulsi Ram Vishwas of CPN-UML and Balram Sardar of Nepali Congress. Namo Narayan Maji of CPN (Maoist Center), Nabin Kumar Bishwas of Rastriya Swatantra Party and Dharendra Kumar Chaudhary of Janata Samajwadi Party are also vying for the position.

The position became vacant following the demise of Jayaprakash Gachhadar on June 17. Gachhadar was elected to the position as the NC candidate.

Chief District Officer of Morang, Prem Prasad Bhattarai, said vote counting will begin on Sunday night itself if participating political parties reach a consensus.