Kathmandu, May 21 (PTI) Senior Nepalese Leftist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on Saturday congratulated his five-party ruling coalition for a successful show at the recently held country-wide local level polls, saying there was strong determination to carry forward the alliance in the upcoming provincial and federal elections.

The local polls were held on May 13. In majority seats, the contest was between candidates of the ruling-five-party alliance - Nepali Congress, CPN-Maoist Centre, CPN-Unified Socialist and two smaller parties - and the Main Opposition Communist Party of Nepal-UML, led by former prime minister KP Sharma Oli.

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Speaking at a programme in Kathmandu, Prachanda said: "We have embarked on a new journey for political change and stability in the country by forging the alliance."

The two-time former prime minister noted senior coalition leaders want to carry forward with the grouping in upcoming provincial and federal elections.

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The Nepali Congress is the biggest gainer in the local-level polls, winning 305 Mayors/Chairmen and 276 Deputy Mayors/Vice Chairmen seats.

The CPN-UML has secured 188 Mayors/Chairmen and 212 Deputy Mayors/Vice Chairmen posts. The CPN-Maoist Centre has secured third position with 120 Mayors/Chairmen and 120 Deputy Mayors/Vice Chairmen posts.

Counting in some seats is still going on.

Meanwhile, prominent Nepalese rap singer Balen Shah, who is contesting the Kathmandu mayoral election as an independent candidate, continued to lead the race for the key position on Saturday.

Shah has so far secured 35,374 votes against his nearest rival Keshav Sthapit of the CPN-UML who secured 19,248 votes. The contest is far from over as nearly 100,000 votes are yet to be counted.

This is the second local-level polls being held in the country after the country switched to a federal set-up. Voters are electing a total of 35,221 representatives, including mayors/chiefs and deputy mayors/deputy chiefs, ward chairs, and members under various categories.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)