Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Independent candidate Lalbir Chaudhary has been elected to the House of Representatives from Bardiya-2 constituency.
Lalbir defeated Suresh Pantha of CPN (Maoist Center) by 136 votes. As the common candidate of the five-party ruling coalition, Pantha had the support of Nepali Congress and CPN (Unified Center), among other parties. Still, it was not sufficient for his victory.
According to District Election Office, Bardiya, Lalbir received 26,520 votes, while Pantha polled 26,324 votes.
Likewise, Pankaj Singh Rathour of CPN-UML and Binaya Rawal of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) received 16,090 and 13,292 votes, respectively.
Lalbir is the father of Nepal Unmukti Party’s founder chairman Resham Chaudhary who is serving a prison term after being convicted in the Tikapur incident which caused the death of seven police personnel and a minor.
Nagarik Unmukti Party decided to support Lalbir after Resham Chaudhary’s candidacy was scrapped by the Election Commission.
Altogether 92,199 votes were cast in Bardiya-2 of which 5,387 were declared invalid.
