It was a landslide victory for Dhan Kumar Sunwar in the National Council race in Tsirang.

Except for Barshong and Mendrelgang gewogs that gave him 58 and 77 votes, the remaining 10 gewogs in Tsirang supported him with not less than 130 votes.

While Tsirangtoed from where he contested was his stronghold, it was votes from five gewogs of Gosarling, Kilkhorthang, Patshaling, Semjong and Sergithang that landed him a seat in the house of review.

In Gosarling, Dhan Kumar sunwar secured 241 votes, which is 34 votes more than what the gewog candidate Hom Nath Thapa managed to secure. A total of 807 people voted.

He also grabbed the maximum votes in Kilkhorthang gewog at 237, while Migma Dorji Lama secured 179 of the total 1,082 votes cast.

Patshaling gewog gave 93 more votes to Dhan Kumar  Sunwar than their candidate Tashi Norbu. Tashi Norbu managed to secure 111 votes, which is less than what Nim Karma Sherpa and Migma Dorji Lama secured in the gewog.  Nim Karma Sherpa and Migma Dorji Lama secured 143 and 139 votes respectively of the total 941 votes cast on April 20.

Dhan Kumar also won almost double the number of votes at 319 than what the Sergithang gewog candidate Sonam Tobgay secured. Semjong gewog that did not have a candidate favoured Dhan Kumar Sunwar with 168 votes.

The National Council-elect bagged a sizable number of votes from other four gewogs that had candidates of their own. He won 241 votes from Tsholingkhar, 176 from Doonglagang, 77 from Mendrelgang gewog, 133 from Phungtenchhu and 187 from Rangthaling gewog.

Of the total 13,435-votes cast in Tsirang, 2,825 were in favor of Dhan Kumar Sunwar, more than double of what the second highest candidate, Nado Rinchen of Barshong gewog secured.

Today, residents in Tsirang say, “We got the best candidate.” While some say that it was sympathy votes that gave Dhan Kumar Sunwar an edge given his humble family background, others argue that it was his hard work and dedication that paid off.

Dhan Kumar Sunwar said that  besides his simplicity, it was his humble family background that could have won the hearts of voters in Tsirang. “I’m sure I was equally supported by youth,” he said.

He added that his language, fluency and strong manifesto were some of the other factors that led him to the top.

Nirmala Pokhrel | Tsirang

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