Suhang Nembang of the CPN-UML has taken a lead in Ilam-2 as per the latest vote count of the by-election held on Saturday.

As of 8:30pm on Sunday, Nembang received 3,249 votes. Dambar Khadka of the Nepali Congress is following Nembang at 2,469 votes. The UML candidate was trailing in an early vote count.

Independent candidate Dakendra Singh Limbu is third in the race garnering 703 votes.

Likewise, Milan Limbu of the Rastriya Swatantra Party has got 434 votes so far.

Around 60 percent of votes were cast in the constituency in the by-election held on Saturday. In Ilam-2, a total of 115,889 individuals were eligible to vote, but only around 69,287 took part in the voting.

As many as 19 candidates have contested the Ilam-2 by-polls.

During the 2022 federal election, UML’s Subas Nembang beat Khadka by a narrow margin of 114 votes. The CPN (Maoist Centre) had supported Congress candidate Khadka then but now the Maoist Centre has allied with the UML.

The Ilam-2 House seat has been vacant after Subas Nembang died of a heart attack in September last year. The UML leader had continuously won the constituency since the 1999 general elections.

The CPN-UML fielded Suhang, son of the former Speaker Subas Nembang, as the party’s candidate in the constituency.