Jhalanath Khanal elected CPN-UML chairman (BREAKING NEWS)

By Bhola B Rana

Kathmandu, 24 Feb: Incumbent CPN-UML general secretary Jhalanath Khanal was elected chairman of the party by the 8th general convention that ended Tuesday.
He defeated his only rival KP Sharma Oli by 128 votes.
Khanal collected 942 votes while Oli got 814 votes.
Official result is yet to be announced.
The chairman is now the most powerful position in the party after a statute amendment approved by the convention.
Ishwor Pokhrel was elected general secretary; he defeated Pradip Nepal in election for the most powerful position in the third largest party in Nepal.
Pokhrel was supported by Khanal.
Ahok Rai, Bamdeb Gautam and Bidya Bhandari were elected vice-chairmen.
Bishnu Paudel, Shanker Pokhrel and Pradip Geywali were elected secretaries.
Former General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal didn’t contest; he supported Oli.
Election result shows Nepal had lost control of the party to Khanal who is considered close to Maoists.
Oli was considered close to main opposition Nepali Congress.
Nepal lost the 10 April CA elections from two constituencies even as he heads a committee to draft the constitution.
The result of elections for 115 central committee members is yet to be announced.
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