KATHMANDU: The vote count for general secretaries under the 14th General Convention of Nepali Congress is underway at the central party office in Sanepa.

As per the preliminary vote count results, Gagan Thapa has taken the lead with 2164 votes followed by Bishwa Prakash Sharma with 1328 votes.

A total of 3300 votes have been counted so far.

Six candidates — Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat, Pradip Paudel, Dr Minendra Rijal, Gagan Thapa, Bishwa Prakash Sharma and Dr Raja Ram Karki — are contesting the election for the two posts of general secretaries of the NC.

Mahat and Paudel are from Sher Bahadur Deuba panel, Rijal and Thapa are from Dr Shekhar Koirala panel while Sharma and Karki are vying for the post of general secretaries from Prakash Man Singh and Bimalendra Nidhi panels, respectively.

Sher Bahadur Deuba has been elected as the president and Purna Bahadur Khadka and Dhan Raj Gurung have been elected as vice presidents of the NC.

In the election held on Monday under the 14th General Convention, 4,679 votes were cast. There was a total of 4,743 voters in the general convention.

Preliminary vote count update:

Gagan Thapa: 2164
Bishwa Prakash Sharma: 1328
Prakash Sharan Mahat: 1092
Pradip Paudel: 999
Minendra Rijal: 588
Raja Ram Karki: 76