A leader of Nepal’s main opposition party CPN-UMl was elected the mayor of Kathmandu on Sunday, defeating his nearest rival from Nepali Congress by over 19,000 votes in the first local polls held in 20 years. Bidya Sundar Shakya, 54, secured 64,913 votes to defeat Nepali Congress’s Raju Raj Joshi, who secured 45,269 votes.
Shakya’s Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist– leninist), which contested the polls held on May 14 on the main plank of nationalism, is known for its anti-India stance.
Its president KP Sharma Oli, who became Nepal’s Prime Minister in October 2015, resigned in August last year blaming India for his fall. He had then alleged that India was behind the months-long agitation by the Madhesis, who are of India- origin and were demanding amendments to the new Constitution.