KATHMANDU: Independent candidate Balen Shah has continued to lead with over 22,000 votes in Kathmandu Metropolitan City.

So far, Balen has received 22,189 out of 58,076 votes counted as of Thursday morning.

Balen’s rival CPN-UML’s Keshav Sthapit has got 11,671 votes.

In the Kathmandu Metropolis, Nepali Congress candidate Sirjana Singh has got 10,581 votes.

Similarly, deputy mayoral candidate Sunita Dangol of CPN-UML has polled 21,352 while CPN (Unified Socialist)’s Rameshwor Shrestha got 6,780.

Similarly, Rastriya Prajatantra Party’s candidate has received 4,784 votes.

The counting of votes in wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 28, 29, 30, 31, and 32 of Kathmandu Metropolis has been completed.