# 2022 Nepalese local elections

The 2022 Nepalese local elections were held on 13 May 2022 in 6 metropolitan cities, 11 sub-metropolitan cities, 276 municipalities and 460 rural municipalities. These were the second set of local-level elections to be held since the promulgation of the new constitution in 2015. From the local election result Nepali Congress has become the single largest party of Nepal followed by CPN (UML) and Maoist Centre.

## Electoral system

Each local body has an elected head, a chair for rural municipalities and a mayor for municipalities. They also have a deputy head, a deputy chair for rural municipalities and a deputy mayor for municipalities. Local levels are further subdivided into wards which have a ward chairperson and four members out of which two must be female with one of them from the Dalit community. The Chairperson/Mayor and a Deputy chairperson/Deputy Mayor are chosen by voters of the entire local level while Ward Chairperson and Ward Members are chosen by voters of the concerned ward. A single ballot is used for voting and First past the post electoral system is used to select the winner.
| Local Level Type | Choice |
| Metropolitan City | Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Ward Chairperson, 4 Ward members per ward |
| Sub-Metropolitan City | Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Ward Chairperson, 4 Ward members per ward |
| Municipality | Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Ward Chairperson, 4 Ward members per ward |
| Rural Municipality | Chairperson, deputy chairperson, Ward Chairperson, 4 Ward members per ward |

### Qualification for candidates

According to Part 17 of the Constitution, a person who meets the following criteria is qualified to become a candidate for various elected offices of the local level:
* citizen of Nepal,
* completed the age of twenty one years,
* registered voters of concerned local level, and
* not being disqualified by any Federal law,
| Date | Pollster | Party | Party | Mayor and Chairperson | Deputy mayor and Deputy chairperson | Ward chairman | Increase or Decrease |
| 10 May 2022 | Setopati | | Congress | 295-317 | 288-309 | 2462-2607 | |
| 10 May 2022 | Setopati | | UML | 235-253 | 241-264 | 2085-2299 | |
| 10 May 2022 | Setopati | | Maoist Centre | 76-105 | 72-99 | 970-1130 | |
| 10 May 2022 | Setopati | | CPN (US) | 35-43 | 39-47 | 290-370 | |
| 10 May 2022 | Setopati | | PSP-N | 24-32 | 23-29 | 200-245 | |
| 10 May 2022 | Setopati | | RPP | 13-22 | 11-15 | 82-104 | |
| 10 May 2022 | Setopati | | LSP-N | 12-17 | 14-19 | 89-119 | |
| 10 May 2022 | Setopati | | Ind | 6-9 | 1-5 | 92-118 | |
| 10 May 2022 | Setopati | | RJM | 2-4 | 2-3 | 31-46 | |
| 10 May 2022 | Setopati | | NMKP | 1-2 | 1-2 | 18-23 | -/ |
| 10 May 2022 | Setopati | | Janamat | 2-5 | 1-3 | 14-20 | |
| 10 May 2022 | Setopati | | PPP | 0-3 | 0-2 | 12-21 | |
| 10 May 2022 | Setopati | | PFP | 0-2 | 0-1 | 9-16 | |
| 10 May 2022 | Setopati | | Others | 0-2 | 0-1 | 31-47 | - |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 753 | 753 | 6742 | |

### Exit poll
#### Mayor/Chairperson post

| Date | Pollster | Party | Party | Province 1 | Madhesh province | Bagmati province | Gandaki province | Lumbini province | Karnali province | Sudurpaschim province | Total |
| 13 May 2022 | ABC Television | | Congress | 60-70 | 45-50 | 40-44 | 46-50 | 38-42 | 20-23 | 42-47 | 292-326 |
| 13 May 2022 | ABC Television | | UML | 36-40 | 23-24 | 43-50 | 23-25 | 29-30 | 13-16 | 18-23 | 185-209 |
| 13 May 2022 | ABC Television | | Maoist Centre | 15-16 | 16-18 | 18-20 | 5-8 | 20-25 | 27-33 | 17-20 | 118-142 |
| 13 May 2022 | ABC Television | | PSP-N | 2-4 | 27-34 | - | 2-3 | 9-15 | - | 1-2 | 41-59 |
| 13 May 2022 | ABC Television | | CPN (US) | 1-2 | 2-4 | 2-3 | - | 1-2 | 5-7 | 2-4 | 13-23 |
| 13 May 2022 | ABC Television | | LSP-N | 1-2 | 8-12 | - | - | 1-2 | - | 1-2 | 11-18 |
| 13 May 2022 | ABC Television | | RJM | - | - | - | 2 | 3 | - | - | 5 |
| 13 May 2022 | ABC Television | | RPP | 2-3 | 0-1 | 1-2 | - | 0-1 | - | 0-1 | 3-8 |
| 13 May 2022 | ABC Television | | Others/Independent | - | 1-2 | 1-2 | - | 1-2 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 6-10 |
| 13 May 2022 | ABC Television | | High competition | 20 | 15 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 6 | 81 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 137 | 136 | 119 | 85 | 109 | 78 | 88 | 753 |

## Results
### Overall Results

| Parties | Parties | Mayor/Chair | Deputy mayor/chair | Ward chair | Ward members | Total |
| | Nepali Congress | 329 | 300 | 2,668 | 10,476 | 13,773 |
| | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 206 | 241 | 2,137 | 9,345 | 11,929 |
| | CPN (Maoist Centre) | 121 | 128 | 1,053 | 3,743 | 5,045 |
| | People's Socialist Party, Nepal | 30 | 31 | 295 | 1,193 | 1,548 |
| | CPN (Unified Socialist) | 20 | 23 | 190 | 754 | 987 |
| | Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Nepal | 16 | 12 | 103 | 450 | 581 |
| | Rastriya Prajatantra Party | 4 | 4 | 62 | 235 | 305 |
| | Rastriya Janamorcha | 4 | 3 | 26 | 126 | 159 |
| | Nagrik Unmukti Party | 4 | 3 | 14 | 78 | 99 |
| | Janamat Party | 2 | 1 | 19 | 74 | 96 |
| | Nepal Workers Peasants Party | 1 | 1 | 19 | 64 | 85 |
| | People's Progressive Party | 1 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 22 |
| | Bibeksheel Sajha Party | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 11 |
| | Terai Madhesh Loktantrik Party | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 12 |
| | Nepal Janata Party | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| | Sanghiya Loktantrik Rastriya Manch | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| | Nepali Congress (B.P.) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| | Nepal Loktantrik Party | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| | Rastriya Janamukti Party | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| | Bahujan Shakti Party | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| | Bahujan Ekata Party Nepal | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| | Nepal Susashan Party | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| | CPN Maoist Socialist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| | Nepal Sadbhawana Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | Independents | 13 | 4 | 137 | 232 | 385 |
| Total | Total | 753 | 753 | 6,743 | 26,848 | 35,097 |
| Source: Election Commission of Nepal |||||||

### By province
#### Province 1

| Parties | Parties | Mayor/Chairperson | Deputy mayor/chairperson | Ward chair | Ward members | Total |
| | Nepali Congress | 69 | 46 | 470 | 1,761 | 2,346 |
| | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 47 | 63 | 476 | 2,200 | 2,786 |
| | CPN (Maoist Centre) | 12 | 19 | 127 | 401 | 559 |
| | CPN (Unified Socialist) | 2 | 5 | 20 | 75 | 102 |
| | People's Socialist Party, Nepal | 2 | 2 | 20 | 88 | 112 |
| | Rastriya Prajatantra Party | 2 | 2 | 14 | 43 | 61 |
| | Sanghiya Loktantrik Rastriya Manch | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| | Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Nepal | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| | Rastriya Janamukti Party | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| | Independents | 3 | 0 | 26 | 39 | 68 |
| Total | Total | 137 | 137 | 1,157 | 4,622 | 6,053 |
| Source: Election Commission of Nepal |||||||

#### Madhesh Province

| Party | Party | Mayor/Chairperson | Deputy mayor/chairperson | Ward chair | Ward members | Total |
| | Nepali Congress | 46 | 56 | 418 | 1,676 | 2,196 |
| | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 30 | 27 | 274 | 1,136 | 1,467 |
| | People's Socialist Party, Nepal | 25 | 26 | 226 | 931 | 1,208 |
| | Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Nepal | 14 | 10 | 87 | 372 | 483 |
| | CPN (Maoist Centre) | 9 | 9 | 139 | 523 | 680 |
| | CPN (Unified Socialist) | 6 | 5 | 80 | 310 | 401 |
| | Janamat Party | 2 | 1 | 13 | 46 | 62 |
| | Bibeksheel Sajha Party | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 11 |
| | Terai Madhesh Loktantrik Party | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 12 |
| | Rastriya Prajatantra Party | 0 | 0 | 6 | 24 | 30 |
| | Bahujan Ekata Party Nepal | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| | Nepal Loktantrik Party | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| | Nepal Janata Party | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| | Nepal Susashan Party | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| | Bahujan Shakti Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | Nepal Sadbhwana Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | Independents | 2 | 1 | 19 | 28 | 50 |
| Total | Total | 136 | 136 | 1,271 | 5,078 | 6,621 |
| Source: Election Commission of Nepal |||||||

#### Bagmati Province

| Parties | Parties | Mayor/Chairperson | Deputy mayor/chairperson | Ward chair | Ward members | Total |
| | Nepali Congress | 58 | 50 | 488 | 1,914 | 2,510 |
| | CPN (Maoist Centre) | 27 | 30 | 204 | 707 | 968 |
| | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 26 | 34 | 359 | 1,636 | 2,055 |
| | CPN (Unified Socialist) | 5 | 4 | 25 | 83 | 117 |
| | Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party | 1 | 1 | 12 | 40 | 54 |
| | Rastriya Prajatantra Party | 1 | 0 | 14 | 47 | 62 |
| | People's Socialist Party, Nepal | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| | Independents | 1 | 0 | 18 | 18 | 37 |
| Total | Total | 119 | 119 | 1,121 | 4,447 | 5,806 |
| Source: Election Commission of Nepal |||||||

#### Gandaki Province

| Party | Party | Mayor/Chairperson | Deputy mayor/chairperson | Ward chair | Ward members | Total |
| | Nepali Congress | 36 | 31 | 351 | 1,306 | 1,724 |
| | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 35 | 33 | 284 | 1,279 | 1,631 |
| | CPN (Maoist Centre) | 11 | 19 | 89 | 303 | 422 |
| | Rastriya Janamorcha | 2 | 1 | 10 | 46 | 59 |
| | CPN (Unified Socialist) | 1 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 20 |
| | People's Socialist Party, Nepal | 0 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 15 |
| | Rastriya Prajatantra Party | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 11 |
| | Rastriya Janamukti Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | Independents | 0 | 1 | 18 | 35 | 54 |
| Total | Total | 85 | 85 | 759 | 3,008 | 3,937 |
| Source: Election Commission of Nepal |||||||

#### Lumbini Province

| Parties | Parties | Mayor/Chairperson | Deputy mayor/chairperson | Ward chair | Ward members | Total |
| | Nepali Congress | 48 | 44 | 375 | 1,516 | 1,983 |
| | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 27 | 40 | 314 | 1,315 | 1,696 |
| | CPN (Maoist Centre) | 25 | 15 | 170 | 621 | 831 |
| | People's Socialist Party, Nepal | 3 | 3 | 43 | 153 | 202 |
| | Rastriya Janamorcha | 2 | 2 | 16 | 80 | 100 |
| | Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Nepal | 2 | 2 | 15 | 74 | 93 |
| | Rastriya Prajatantra Party | 1 | 2 | 21 | 84 | 108 |
| | People's Progressive Party, Nepal | 1 | 1 | 4 | 16 | 22 |
| | Janamat Party | 0 | 0 | 6 | 28 | 34 |
| | CPN (Unified Socialist) | 0 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 16 |
| | Bahujan Shakti Party | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| | Nepal Janata Party | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| | Rastriya Janamukti Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | Independents | 0 | 0 | 13 | 24 | 37 |
| Total | Total | 109 | 109 | 983 | 3,932 | 5,133 |
| Source: Election Commission of Nepal |||||||

#### Karnali Province

| Party | Party | Mayor/Chairperson | Deputy mayor/chairperson | Ward chair | Ward members | Total |
| | Nepali Congress | 32 | 27 | 253 | 944 | 1,256 |
| | CPN (Maoist Centre) | 23 | 25 | 223 | 855 | 1,126 |
| | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 15 | 20 | 184 | 818 | 1,037 |
| | CPN (Unified Socialist) | 4 | 6 | 30 | 140 | 180 |
| | Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party | 0 | 0 | 7 | 24 | 31 |
| | Rastriya Prajatantra Party | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 11 |
| | CPN Maoist Socialist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| | Independents | 5 | 1 | 20 | 42 | 68 |
| Total | Total | 79 | 79 | 718 | 2,835 | 3,711 |
| Source: Election Commission of Nepal |||||||

#### Sudurpaschim Province

| Parties | Parties | Mayor/Chairperson | Deputy mayor/chairperson | Ward chair | Ward members | Total |
| | Nepali Congress | 40 | 46 | 313 | 1,359 | 1,758 |
| | CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) | 26 | 24 | 246 | 961 | 1,257 |
| | CPN (Maoist Centre) | 14 | 11 | 101 | 333 | 459 |
| | Nagrik Unmukti Party | 4 | 3 | 14 | 78 | 99 |
| | CPN (Unified Socialist) | 2 | 3 | 28 | 118 | 151 |
| | Rastriya Prajatantra Party | 0 | 0 | 5 | 17 | 22 |
| | People's Socialist Party, Nepal | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| | Nepali Congress (B.P.) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| | Nepal Loktantrik Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| | Independents | 2 | 1 | 23 | 46 | 72 |
| Total | Total | 88 | 88 | 734 | 2,926 | 3,836 |
| Source: Election Commission of Nepal |||||||

### Major cities
#### Metropolitan cities

| City | District | Province | Outgoing mayor | Elected mayor | Details |
| Biratnagar | Morang | Province No. 1 | Bheem Parajuli (Congress) | Naagesh Koirala (Congress) | Details |
| Birgunj | Parsa | Madhesh | Vijaya Kumar Sarawagi (FSFN) | Rajesh Man Singh (PSPN) | Details |
| Lalitpur | Lalitpur | Bagmati | Chiri Babu Maharjan (Congress) | Chiri Babu Maharjan (Congress) | Details |
| Bharatpur | Chitwan | Bagmati | Renu Dahal (Maoist Centre) | Renu Dahal (Maoist Centre) | Details |
| Kathmandu | Kathmandu | Bagmati | Bidya Sundar Shakya (UML) | Balendra Shah (Independent) | Details |
| Pokhara | Kaski | Gandaki | Man Bahadur GC (UML) | Dhanraj Acharya (Socialist) | Details |

#### Sub-metropolitan cities

| City | District | Province | Outgoing mayor | Elected mayor | Details |
| Dharan | Sunsari | Province No. 1 | Tilak Rai (Congress) | Harka Raj Rai (Independent) | Details |
| Itahari | Sunsari | Province No. 1 | Dwarika Lal Chaudhary (UML) | Hem Karna Paudel (Congress) | Details |
| Janakpur | Dhanusha | Madhesh | Lal Kishor Sah (RJPN) | Manoj Kumar Sah (Independent) | Details |
| Kalaiya | Bara | Madhesh | Rajesh Raya Yadav (Congress) | Binod Prasad Shah (UML) | Details |
| Jitpursimara | Bara | Madhesh | Krishna Prasad Paudel (UML) | Rajan Paudel (Maoist Centre) | Details |
| Hetauda | Makwanpur | Bagmati | Hari Bahadur Mahat (UML) | Mina Kumari Lama (Socialist) | Details |
| Butwal | Rupandehi | Lumbini | Shiva Raj Subedi (UML) | Khel Raj Panday (Congress) | Details |
| Tulsipur | Dang | Lumbini | Ghana Shyam Pandey (UML) | Tika Ram Adhikari (UML) | Details |
| Ghorahi | Dang | Lumbini | Naru Lal Chaudhary (UML) | Naru Lal Chaudhary (UML) | Details |
| Nepalgunj | Banke | Lumbini | Dhawal Shamsher Rana (RPP) | Prashant Bista (Congress) | Details |
| Dhangadhi | Kailali | Sudurpashchim | Nrip Bahadur Wad (Congress) | Gopal Hamal (Independent) | Details |

## Incidents

The Election Commission of Nepal sought clarification from CPN (Maoist Centre) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and the wife of prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Arzu Rana Deuba for violating the code of conduct during their election rally.
The chairman of the Muslim Commission Samim Miya Ansari was caught in Janakpurdham during the silence period of election campaigning for trying to buy votes for independent candidate Janakiram Sah and Surendra Bhandari, the chair of the Janakpur committee of CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) was also arrested for trying to buy votes. Ansari later accused UML leaders Raghubir Mahasheth and Julie Kumari Mahato of framing him.
During election day, the commission fined former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai NPR 15,000 for breaking the code of conduct by tweeting a picture of his ballot paper. In Vyas municipality in Tanahun, independent candidate, Deepak Raj Joshi, son of former Nepali Congress leader Govinda Raj Joshi, sustained injuries to the head after being beaten up by cadres of Nepali Congress. After clashes broke out between cadres of People's Socialist Party, Nepali Congress and CPN (UML) in Yamunamai Rural Municipality in Rautahat, a former police constable ran away with the ballot box in the ensuing chaos and voting was suspended. He was later arrested.
According to the National Human Rights Commission voting was suspended in different parts of the country due to clashes between supporters of different political parties. The Election Commission of Nepal reported that voting was suspended in 79 polling centres on May 13.
After accusations of booth capturing by CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) in Budhiganga Rural Municipality in Bajura, Nepali Congress demanded that a re-election be held. The Election Commission later agreed with the demands and a re-election was held on 7 July.