Abhishek Singh of the Nepali Congress is leading the by-election in Bajhang (A) as per the latest vote count.

As of early morning on Monday, Singh has garnered 8,506 votes. CPN-UML candidate Daman Bahadur Bhandari is following closely behind with 8,165 votes.

Janak Bahadur Budha of the CPN (Maoist Centre) is third in the election race with 3,113 votes while Dil Bahadur Singh of the CPN (Unified Socialist) has got 2,266 votes.

As many as 11 candidates have contested the by-polls for the provincial assembly seat.

The Bajhang (A) bypoll was conducted for a seat in the Sudurpaschim Assembly which remains vacant after Prithvi Bahadur Singh, a member and provincial minister, died in a road accident in June last year.

Meanwhile, UML’s Suhang Nembang is leading in Ilam-2 with 2,282 votes ahead of his closest competitor Dambar Khadka of the Nepali Congress, who has garnered 6,280 votes.