# 2022 Biratnagar municipal election

Municipal election for Biratnagar took place on 13 May 2022, with all 122 positions up for election across 19 wards. The electorate elected a mayor, a deputy mayor, 19 ward chairs and 76 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.
Nagesh Koirala from Nepali Congress was elected as the new mayor of Metropolitan city.

## Background

The first election after the city was declared as a metropolitan city was held in 2017. 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.
Bhim Parajuli from Nepali Congress was elected as the first mayor of the metropolitan city in the previous election.

## Candidates

In accordance with the decision of central leaders of Nepali Congress, CPN (Maoist Centre), People's Socialist Party, CPN (Unified Socialist) and Rastriya Janamorcha, an alliance was created to contest local elections in some local units. In Biratnagar, Nagesh Koirala from Nepali Congress was the candidate for mayor from the alliance and Amrendra Yadav from People's Socialist party was the candidate for deputy mayor.

### Mayoral candidates

| Party | Mayor candidate |
| Nepali Congress (supported by CPN (MC), CPN (US) and PSPN) | Naagesh Koirala |
| CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | Sagar Kumar Thapa |
| Janamat Party | Arun Kumar Mandal |
| Independent | Sakriya Gautam |
| Independent | Umesh Kumar Yadav |
| CPN (Socialist) | Sone Lal Rajbanshi |
| CPN (Marxist–Leninist) | Devi Paudel |
| Bibeksheel Sajha Party | Amalesh Kumar Karna |
| Rastriya Prajatantra Party | Prahlad Prasad Sah |
| Pichhadabarga Nishad Dalit Janajati Party | Pradeep Kumar Kamat |
| Nepali Congress (B.P.) | Ramchandra Prasad Gautam |
| Federal Democratic National Front | Nageshwar Singh Rajput |
| Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Nepal | Mrityunjaya Kumar Mishra |

### Deputy mayoral candidates

| Party | Deputy Mayor candidate |
| CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | Shilpa Karki |
| Janamat Party | Anu Kumari Kamat |
| Independent | Ganga Devi Subedi |
| CPN (Socialist) | Laxmi Rajbanshi |
| Independent | Namita Neupane |
| Nepali Congress (B.P.) | Maya Ojha |
| Federal Democratic National Front | Chandrakala Sharma |
| Bibeksheel Sajha Party | Shriju Parajuli |
| Pichhadibarga Nishad Dalit Janajati Party | Hafizan Khatun |
| Independent | Basundhara Devi Jha |
| CPN (Marxist–Leninist) | Chandrakala Siwakoti |
| Rastriya Prajatantra Party | Bindra Kumari Acharya |
| Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Nepal | Sahnaz Khatun |
| People's Socialist Party, Nepal (supported by NC, CPN (MC) and CPN (US)) | Amarendra Yadav |

## Opinion poll

| Date | News agency | Sample size | Nagesh Koirala | Sagar Thapa | Umesh Yadav | Others/Undecided | Result |
| 9 May 2022 | Setopati | 130 | 52 | 21 | 12 | 45 | Hung |
| 9 May 2022 | Setopati | 130 | 40% | 16% | 9% | 35% | Hung |

## Exit polls

| Date | Pollster | Koirala | Thapa | Yadav | Sah | Others | Lead |
| Date | Pollster | Congress | UML | Ind. | RPP | Others | Lead |
| 13 May 2022 | Facts Nepal | 49.0% | 29.9% | 12.5% | 4.4% | 4.2% | 19.1% |

## Results
### Mayoral election

Mayoral elections result :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Congress | Naagesh Koirala | 30,170 | 44.3% | +6.7% |
| | CPN (UML) | Sagar Kumar Thapa | 21,455 | 31.5% | +3.2% |
| | Independent | Umesh Kumar Yadav | 8,795 | 12.9% | −11.5% |
| | RPP | Prahlad Prasad Shah | 5,216 | 7.7% | −1.3% |
| | Janamat | Arun Kumar Mandal | 823 | 1.1% | New |
| | Loktantrik Samajwadi | Mrityunjaya Kumar Mishra | 620 | 0.9% | New |
| | Others | | 959 | 1.4% | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 68,038 | 100.0% | |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 21,640 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 89,678 | | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 133,142 | | |
| | Congress hold | Congress hold | Congress hold | Congress hold | Congress hold |

### Deputy mayoral election

Deputy mayoral elections result :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | CPN (UML) | Shilpa Karki | 25,680 | 46.5% | New |
| | People's Socialist Party, Nepal (2020) | Amarendra Yadav | 14,219 | 25.7% | New |
| | RPP | Binda Kumari Luitel | 6,409 | 11.6% | +2.9% |
| | Independent | Namita Neupane | 5,117 | 9.3% | −15.2% |
| | Janamat | Anu Kumari Kamat | 1,133 | 2.1% | New |
| | Loktantrik Samajwadi | Shahnaz Khatun | 808 | 1.5% | New |
| | Others | | 1,194 | 2.2% | |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 55,229 | 100.0% | |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 34,449 | 100.0% | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 89,678 | | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 133,142 | | |
| | CPN (UML) gain from Congress | CPN (UML) gain from Congress | Swing | +55.9% | |

### Ward results

Summary of partywise ward chairpersons and ward member seats won, 2022 :
| Party | Party | Chairpersons | Members |
| | CPN (Unified Marxist-Leninist) | 9 | 33 |
| | Nepali Congress | 6 | 33 |
| | People's Socialist Party, Nepal | 2 | 8 |
| | Rastriya Prajatantra Party | 1 | 0 |
| | Independent | 1 | 2 |
| Total | Total | 19 | 76 |

#### 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 | | Kaji Bahadur Basnet | | | | |
| 2 | | Kumar Pokharel | | | | |
| 3 | | Basu Bahadur Basnet | | | | |
| 4 | | Jitan Thapa | | | | |
| 5 | | Santosh Neupane | | | | |
| 6 | | Harish Chandra Sahani | | | | |
| 7 | | Madhu Babu Tiwari | | | | |
| 8 | | Ram Pokharel | | | | |
| 9 | | Bishwanath Prasad Bhagat | | | | |
| 10 | | Arjun Giri | | | | |
| 11 | | Tirthendra Neupane | | | | |
| 12 | | Hira Lal Kamat | | | | |
| 13 | | Surya Lal Yadav | | | | |
| 14 | | Surya Narayan Mahato | | | | |
| 15 | | Prakash Sah | | | | |
| 16 | | Uddhav Kumar Bhujel | | | | |
| 17 | | Samim Kumar Miya | | | | |
| 18 | | Jitendra Kumar Shah | | | | |
| 19 | | Shyam Ghimire | | | | |

## 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.

### Municipal Assembly composition

| Party | Party | Members |
| | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 43 |
| | Nepali Congress | 40 |
| | People's Socialist Party, Nepal | 10 |
| | Rastriya Prajatantra Party | 1 |
| | Independent | 3 |
| Total | Total | 97 |

### Results

| Category | Candidate | Party | Votes |
| Female Member | Kamala Shrestha | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 55 |
| Female Member | Santalidevi Bishwas | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 55 |
| Female Member | Sarita Ghimire Nepal | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 53 |
| Female Member | Tara Kumari Raya | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 53 |
| Female Member | Khusbu Bishwakarma | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 52 |
| Female Member | Anju Dahal Gautam | Nepali Congress | 40 |
| Female Member | Rupa Deuja | Nepali Congress | 40 |
| Female Member | Binita Singh Thakuri | Nepali Congress | 40 |
| Female Member | Surya Devi Sah | Nepali Congress | 40 |
| Female Member | Gayatri Thapa | Nepali Congress | 39 |
| Dalit/Minority Member | Om Prakash Sah | Independent | 55 |
| Dalit/Minority Member | Sanjiv Kumar Sah | Independent | 52 |
| Dalit/Minority Member | Dipak Kumar Karna | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 52 |
| Dalit/Minority Member | Babita Devi Sah | People's Socialist Party | 45 |
| Dalit/Minority Member | Bimala Devi Poddhar | People's Socialist Party | 41 |
| Dalit/Minority Member | Prem Rathi | Nepali Congress | 40 |

### Municipal Executive composition

| Party | Party | Members |
| | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 16 |
| | Nepali Congress | 7 |
| | People's Socialist Party, Nepal | 2 |
| | Rastriya Prajatantra Party | 1 |
| | Independent | 3 |
| Total | Total | 29 |