RSP Convention: Sobita elected vice president, Bipin general secretary

KATHMANDU: Sobita Gautam has been elected vice president of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), while Bipin Acharya secured victory in the race for general secretary.

According to the party’s Central Election Commission, Gautam secured 789 votes. Her rival, Dr Toshima Karki, received 572 votes.

Similarly, Acharya received 638 votes in the election for general secretary. His nearest rival, Manish Jha, received 324 votes. Ganesh Karki and Sagar Dhakal, who were also in the race for general secretary, got 168 and 128 votes, respectively.

Acharya was a joint general secretary in the outgoing Central Committee.

Likewise, Nisha Dangi, Asim Sah and Hari Dhakal have been elected joint general secretaries. Dangi was elected to one joint general secretary position reserved for women. She received 731 votes. Her nearest rival, Reema Bishwakarma, got 278 votes. Similarly, Sah and Dhakal received 450 and 372 votes, respectively.

Eleven were in the race for two joint general secretary (open) positions and five for one joint general secretary (women) position.

A total of 1,289 votes were cast in the election for office-bearers held on Friday. The turnout for the office-bearer election was significantly lower than that for the Central Committee because many of the convention delegates returned home without casting their votes after the three-day convention was extended for the fifth day. A total of 2,959 votes had been cast in the first phase of voting to elect Central Committee members.

This is how RSP’s new Central Committee looks:

1. Rabi Lamichhane – President
2. (To be nominated) – Senior Leader
3. Dr Swarnim Wagle – Vice President (Open)
4. Sobita Gautam – Vice President (Women)
5. (To be nominated) – Vice President
6. Bipin Kumar Acharya – General Secretary
7. (To be nominated) – General Secretary
8. Asim Sah – Joint General Secretary (Open)
9. Hari Dhakal – Joint General Secretary (Open)
10. Nisha Dangi – Joint General Secretary (Women)
11. (To be nominated) – Joint General Secretary
12. (To be nominated) – Joint General Secretary
13. (To be nominated) – Treasurer
14. (To be nominated) – Joint Treasurer
15. (To be nominated) – Joint Treasurer
16. (To be nominated) – Sokesperson
17. (To be nominated) – Joint Spokesperson
18. (To be nominated) – Joint Spokesperson
19. (To be nominated) – Joint Spokesperson