Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane won the by-election in Chitwan-2 constituency receiving 69%, or 54,176, of the total votes cast.
Jit Narayan Shrestha of Nepali Congress, who was the common candidate of the ruling coalition, came a distant second with 11,214 votes, while CPN-UML’s Ram Prasad Neupane was third with 10,936 votes.
Candidates of NC and UML had received 15,091 and 14,649 votes, respectively, in the November 20 election.
Lamichhane was elected from the constituency in the November 20 election getting 49,261 votes. However, the seat became vacant after the Supreme Court declared him ineligible to hold public office as he hadn’t obtained his Nepali citizenship which he relinquished years before to take US citizenship.
He briefly served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs briefly until the apex court passed its verdict.
Lamichhane, a former television presenter, founded RSP some six months before the November 20 election. The party won 20 seats in the House of Representatives.
The victory of Dr Swarnim Wagle in the by-election in Tanahun-1 constituency means RSP will now have 21 seats in the lower house. RSP’s candidate Ramesh Kharel is third in Bara-2 where the vote count is underway.
