BIRATNAGAR: Nepali Congress mayoral candidate Nagesh Koirala has maintained his lead in Biratnagar Metropolitan City.

According to the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer, out of 46,961 votes counted so far, Koirala, a coalition candidate, has received 14,944 votes leaving CPN-UML’s Sagar Thapa behind by 3,632 votes.

Thapa has has got 11,312 votes till now.

Similarly, 47-year-old Umesh Yadav, who is contesting as an independent candidate, has come third with 4,682 votes.

However, UML candidate Shilpa Nirala Karki has been leading others in the contest for the deputy mayor of the city. She has got 12,927 votes. Amarendra Yadav, a Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) candidate from the alliance, has got 7,778 votes. There is a difference of 5,149 votes between the two candidates.