2022 Dhangadhi municipal election

Municipal election for Dhangadhi took place on 13 May 2022, with all 97 positions up for election across 19 wards.^[1][2] 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.^[3][4]

2022 Dhangadhi municipal elections

← 2017 13 May 2022 2027 →
97 seats to Dhangadhi Sub-Metropolitan City Council 49 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Candidate Gopal Hamal Nrip Bahadur Wad Rana Bahadur Chand Party Independent Congress CPN (UML) Popular vote 26,865 14,817 9,115 Percentage 51.8% 28.6% 17.6%
Results for ward chair by party
Mayor before election Nrip Bahadur Wad Congress Elected Mayor Gopal Hamal Independent

Independent candidate Gopal Hamal was elected mayor of the sub-metropolitan city defeating incumbent mayor Nrip Bahadur Wad of the Nepali Congress. Congress however regained control of the council.^[5]

Background

Dhangadhi was established in 1976 as a municipality. The sub-metropolitan city was created in 2015 by incorporating neighboring village development committees into Dhangadhi municipality.^[6] 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.^[7]

In the previous election, Nrip Bahadur Wad from Nepali Congress was elected as mayor.^[8]

Candidates

Party		Mayor candidate	Deputy Mayor candidate
	Nepali Congress	Nrip Bahadur Wad[9]
	Independent	Gopal Hamal[10]
	Rastriya Prajatantra Party		Durga Dutt Pant[11]
	CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist)	Rana Bahadur Chand[9]	Kandakala Rana Tharu[9]
	CPN (Maoist Centre)		Shanti Adhikari[9]
	People's Socialist Party, Nepal	Kalendra Airee[11]
	Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Nepal	Basanta Bahadur Bishwakarma[10]
	Nagarik Unmukti Party	Nim Kumar Chaudhary[11]	Sabitra Chaudhary[11]

Opinion poll

Date	News agency	Sample size	Gopal Hamal	Nrip Bahadur Wad	Rana Bahadur Chand	None	Undecided	Result
10 May 2022	Setopati[12]	100	39	31	12	14	4	Hung
			39%	31%	21%	14%	4%

Results

Mayoral election

Mayoral elections result

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Gopal Hamal	26,865	51.8%	+27.7%
	Congress	Nrip Bahadur Wad	14,817	28.6%	−1.4%
	CPN (UML)	Rana Bahadur Chand	9,115	17.6%	−3.2%
	Nagrik Unmukti	Nim Kumar Chaudhary	805	1.6%	New
	Others		276	0.5%
Total votes			51,878	100.0%
	Independent gain from Congress		Swing	+14.6%

Deputy mayoral elections result

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	CPN (UML)	Kandakala Kumari Rana	15,479	39.0%	+10.4%
	Maoist Centre	Shanti Kumari Adhikari	12,670	32.0%	+9.0%
	Independent	Prabha Kar Bhandari	6,609	16.7%	New
	RPP	Durga Dutt Pant	3,301	8.3%	+3.9%
	Nagrik Unmukti	Sabitri Devi Chaudhary	1,133	2.9%	New
	Bibeksheel Sajha	Bimala Pant	461	1.2%	New
Total votes			39,653	100.0%
	CPN (UML) gain from Congress		Swing	+24.8%

Ward results

Summary of Partywise Ward chairman and Ward member seats won, 2022

Party		Chairman	Members
	Nepali Congress	11	48
	CPN (Unified Marxist-Leninist)	6	24
	CPN (Maoist Centre)	2	4
Total		19	76

Summary of results by ward

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
Chairman
Open Member 1
Open Member 2
Female Member
Female Dalit Member
Source: Election Commission

Council formation

Party		Mayor	Deputy Mayor	Ward Chairman	Ward Members	Total seats	Remarks
	Independent	1		0	0	0
	Nepali Congress			11	48	59	Majority
	Communist Party of Nepal (UML)			6	24	30
	CPN (Maoist Centre)		1	2	4	7
Total		1	1	19	76	97	49 for Majority

See also

• 2022 Nepalese local elections
• 2022 Lalitpur municipal election
• 2022 Kathmandu municipal election
• 2022 Janakpur municipal election
• 2022 Pokhara municipal election