# 2022 Pokhara municipal election

Municipal election for Pokhara took place on 13 May 2022, with all 167 positions up for election across 33 wards. The electorate elected a mayor, a deputy mayor, 33 ward chairs and 132 ward members. An indirect election will also be held to elect five female members and an additional three female members from the Dalit and minority community to the municipal executive.
Dhanraj Acharya of CPN (Unified Socialist) was elected mayor of Pokhara Metropolitan city.

## Background

Pokhara was established in 1962 as a municipality. The metropolitan city was created in 2017 by incorporating neighboring village development committees and Lekhnath municipality into Pokhara sub-metropolitan city. Electors in each ward elect a ward chair and four ward members, out of which two must be female and one of the two must belong to the Dalit community.
In the previous election, Man Bahadur GC from CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) was elected as the first mayor of the metropolitan city.

## Mayor and deputy mayor candidates

| Post | Parties | Name |
| Mayor | CPN (Unified Socialist) | Dhanraj Acharya |
| Mayor | Rastriya Prajatantra Party | Shankar Kharal |
| Mayor | CPN (UML) | Krishna Bahadur Thapa |
| Deputy mayor | Nepali Congress | Kopila Ranabhat |
| Deputy mayor | Rastriya Prajatantra Party | Ranjana Kumari Saini Paudel |
| Deputy mayor | CPN (UML) | Manju Devi Gurung |

## Surveys and opinion polls

| Date | News agency | Sample size | Dhan Raj Acharya | Undecided | Krishna Bahadur Thapa | Shankar Kharal | Result |
| 9 May 2022 | Setopati | 150 | 56 | 43 | 38 | 9 | Hung |
| 9 May 2022 | Setopati | 150 | 37% | 29% | 25% | 6% | Hung |

## Exit polls

| Date | Pollster | Thapa | Acharya | Paudel | Kharel | Others | Lead |
| Date | Pollster | UML | US | Ind. | RPP | Others | Lead |
| 13 May 2022 | Facts Nepal | 41.7% | 37.8% | 7.7% | 4.5% | 8.3% | 3.9% |

## Mayoral results

Mayoral elections result :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unified Socialist | Dhan Raj Acharya | 58,893 | 48.1% | New |
| | CPN (UML) | Krishna Bahadur Thapa | 52,848 | 43.2% | −9.9% |
| | RPP | Shankar Kharal | 5,674 | 4.6% | +2.6% |
| | Independent | Khadak Raj Paudel | 3,030 | 2.5% | New |
| | Others | | 1,884 | 1.5% | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 122,329 | 100.0% | |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 20897 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 143,226 | | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 207,712 | | |
| | Unified Socialist gain from CPN (UML) | Unified Socialist gain from CPN (UML) | Swing | | |
Deputy mayoral elections result :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | CPN (UML) | Manju Devi Gurung | 60,546 | 49.0% | +0.7% |
| | Congress | Kopila Ranabhat | 56,663 | 45.9% | +8.0% |
| | RPP | Ranjana Kumari Sen | 5,597 | 4.6% | +2.2% |
| | Others | | 530 | 0.4% | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 123,438 | 100.0% | |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 19788 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 143,226 | | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 207,712 | | |
| | CPN (UML) hold | CPN (UML) hold | CPN (UML) hold | CPN (UML) hold | CPN (UML) hold |

## Ward results

Summary of Partywise Ward chairman and Ward member seats won, 2022 :
| Party | Party | Chairman | Members |
| | Nepali Congress | 23 | 56 |
| | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 9 | 76 |
| | Independent | 1 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 33 | 132 |

### Summary of results by ward

| Ward No. | Ward Chair | Ward Chair | Ward Members | Ward Members | Ward Members | Ward Members |
| Ward No. | Ward Chair | Ward Chair | Open | Open 2 | Female | Female Dalit |
| 1 | | Shahara Pradhan | | | | |
| 2 | | Diwas Man Pradhananga | | | | |
| 3 | | Prakash Man Udas | | | | |
| 4 | | Dev Krishna Parajuli | | | | |
| 5 | | Bishnu Prasad Baral | | | | |
| 6 | | Bishnu Bahadur Bhattarai | | | | |
| 7 | | Ram Mohan Acharya | | | | |
| 8 | | Rudra Nath Baral | | | | |
| 9 | | Dipendra Marsani | | | | |
| 10 | | Rajesh Gurung | | | | |
| 11 | | Prem Prasad Karmacharya | | | | |
| 12 | | Santosh Bastola | | | | |
| 13 | | Kiran Baral | | | | |
| 14 | | Bodh Bahadur Karki | | | | |
| 15 | | Toran Bahadur Baniya | | | | |
| 16 | | Amrit Sharma Timilsina | | | | |
| 17 | | Radhika Kumari Shahi | | | | |
| 18 | | Shiva Prasad Timilsina | | | | |
| 19 | | Pushpendra Pandey | | | | |
| 20 | | Ganga Bahadur Khatri | | | | |
| 21 | | Dipak Prasad Subedi | | | | |
| 22 | | Him Lal Baral | | | | |
| 23 | | Ram Kaji Gurung | | | | |
| 24 | | Bharat Bahadur Adhikari | | | | |
| 25 | | Moti Lal Timilsina | | | | |
| 26 | | Narendra Thapa | | | | |
| 27 | | Purna Kumar Gurung | | | | |
| 28 | | Shree Krishna Lamichhane | | | | |
| 29 | | Shree Prasad Gurung | | | | |
| 30 | | Durga Prasad Subedi | | | | |
| 31 | | Dhaknath Kadel | | | | |
| 32 | | Akkal Bahadur Karki | | | | |
| 33 | | Ram Chandra Adhikari | | | | |

## Results for municipal executive election

The municipal executive consists of the mayor, who is also the chair of the municipal executive, the deputy mayor and ward chairs from each ward. The members of the municipal assembly will elect five female members and three members from the Dalit and minority community to the municipal executive using single non-transferable vote.

### Municipal Assembly composition

| Party | Party | Members |
| | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 86 |
| | Nepali Congress | 79 |
| | CPN (Unified Socialist) | 1 |
| | Independent | 1 |
| Total | Total | 167 |

### Results

| Category | Candidate | Party | Votes |
| Female Member | Dhankumari Pokharel | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 86 |
| Female Member | Nirmala Paudel | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 86 |
| Female Member | Bhimkumari Pun Garbuja | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 86 |
| Female Member | Mandira Pariyar | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 86 |
| Female Member | Harimaya Bishwakarma | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 86 |
| Female Member | Daldadevi Bhujel | Nepali Congress | 81 |
| Female Member | Durgadevi Thapa | Nepali Congress | 81 |
| Female Member | Pabitra Thapa | Nepali Congress | 81 |
| Female Member | Ransuwa Gurung | Nepali Congress | 80 |
| Female Member | Bhawana Shrestha | Nepali Congress | 79 |
| Dalit/Minority Member | Nirmal Diyali | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 87 |
| Dalit/Minority Member | Govinda Tulachan | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 86 |
| Dalit/Minority Member | Dipak Ghimire | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 86 |
| Dalit/Minority Member | Lal Bahadur B.K. | CPN (Unified Socialist) | 81 |
| Dalit/Minority Member | Pan Bahadur Gharti | People's Socialist Party | 80 |
| Dalit/Minority Member | Bhim Bahadur Sarki | CPN (Maoist Centre) | 78 |

### Municipal Executive composition

| Party | Party | Members |
| | Nepali Congress | 23 |
| | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 18 |
| | CPN (Unified Socialist) | 1 |
| | Independent | 1 |
| Total | Total | 43 |