By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Apr. 9: As the votes from Wednesday’s elections of the Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) continue to be tallied, the panel led by Bipul Pokharel is leading the count.
As of 5 pm Thursday, Bipul Pokharel is leading the race for the post of president of the umbrella organisation of Nepali journalists with 864 votes. His nearest rival Nirmala Sharma is following him with 371 votes.
For the post of senior vice-president, Ramesh Bista is at the forefront with 758 votes followed by Madhav Nepal with 386. In the vice-president (woman) category, Bala Adhikari is ahead with more than 400 votes from her competitor Dana KC (Subedi) and in the vice-president (inclusive) category, Uday GM has the lead with 696 votes.
Roshan Puri is ahead in the run for general secretary with 689 votes.
Govinda Prasad Chaulagain is leading in the secretary (open) category with 688 votes, Srijana Aryal is leading in the secretary (woman) with 724 votes, Narayan Sundar Kilambu is ahead in the secretary (indigenous nationality) with 711 votes, Deependra Chauhan in the secretary (Madhesi) with 690 votes, Hem Karna BK in the secretary (Dalit) with 723 votes and Pawan Acharya in the secretary (associate) with 678 votes.
Kulendra Sejuwal leads the race for treasurer with 657 votes and Lekhnath Neupane leads for the coordinator of accounts committee with 653 votes.
This is the first time the FNJ has adopted a direct electoral system to choose its leadership.