Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: CPN-UML’s Damodar Bhandari has been elected to Sudurpashchim Province Assembly from Bajhang-1 (A) constituency.
According to the Election Commission, Bhandari received 11,612 votes in the by-election, while his close competitor Abhishek Bahadur Singh of Nepali Congress got 11,346. Janak Budha of CPN (Maoist Center) came third with 3,831 votes, while Dil Bahadur Singh of CPN (Unified Socialist) finished fourth with 2,514.
A total of eleven candidates were in the fray in the by-election.
With this victory, UML has become the second-largest party in the province with 11 seats. Maoist Center also has 11 seats.
The constituency was lying vacant since the demise of Prithvi Bahadur Singh of Nepali Congress, who was elected to the province assembly in the November 2022 election, in a road accident. Singh, who received 17,112 votes, had defeated UML’s Abhilaal Okheda of CPN-UML two years ago. He received 13,336 votes.
Abhishek, who suffered defeat on Monday, is late Singh’s son.
