Deuba defeats Poudel

Kathmandu March 8- Former prime minister and senior leader of Nepali Congress Sher Bahadur Deuba has been elected as the party president in a run-off, defeating Acting Party President Ram Chandra Poudel with a wide margin on Monday night.

Deuba, a three-time prime minister, secured 1,822 votes out of the 3,140 ballots cast in the second round polling on Monday. His rival Poudel secured 1296 votes. Twenty two votes were cancelled. After his victory, Deuba said he would unite the party and focus on implementing the new constitution. “From today, there are no factions in the party. My sole purpose is to make the party united,” said Deuba. He added that as the party chief he will play his role for the implementation of the newly adopted constitution.

This was Deuba’s third attempt at the top party job. Earlier, he was defeated by the NC late presidents Girija Prasad Koirala and Sushil Koirala during the 10th and 12th conventions in 2000 and 2010 respectively. With Deuba’s victory, the NC leadership has officially gone out of the Koirala family after two decades. Source: TKP