November 29: Chandra Prasad Dhakal has been elected as the senior vice president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).

Dhakal defeated his rival Kishor Pradhan to secure the coveted post, which, according to the FNCCI statute, ensures that he will lead the umbrella body of industries and entrepreneurs in the next term. The newly elected senior vice president Dhakal will take the helm of FNCCI from Sekhar Golchha, who will now take charge of the new executive committee.

According to the election committee of FNCCI, Dhakal secured an overall 54.26 percent votes against 45.74 percent received by Pradhan during the election held on the occasion of the 54^th Annual General meeting of FNCCI on November 28.

In the associate section, which holds 30 percent of vote weightage, Dhakal secured 522 votes while Pradhan garnered only 375 votes. Likewise in the commodities section, Dhakal bagged 59 votes against 39 of Pradhab. The commodities section carries 20 percent of vote weightage. Similarly, in the district and municipal section, which carries a total of 50 percent vote weightage, the two contestants had a close competition with Pradhan defeating Dhakal by a margin of just one vote. Pradhan secured 53 votes while Dhakal received 52.

Meanwhile Anjan Shrestha won the election in the commodities section while Dinesh Shrestha secured victory in the district and municipal section. Both of them belong to Pradhan’s panel.

Anjan Shrestha garnered 62 votes to defeat his competitor Umesh Lal Pradhan, who secured 37 votes.

Likewise, Dinesh Shrestha bagged 58 votes against 47 received by his contestant Guna Nidhi Tiwari.

In the associates section, Ram Chandra Shanghai of Dhakal panel secured victory. Shanghai secured 455 votes while his competitor Saurav Jyoti received 434 votes.

Rajan Shrestha, Taranath Adhikari, Kamal Kumar Shrestha, Chakra Bahadur Adhikari, Arun Raj Sumargi, Dev Kumar Shrestha, Rameshwar manandhar,  Shovakanta Poudel, Sur Krishna Baidhya, Gajendra Bhagat, Kuber Kumar Shrestha and Kaman Bahadur Khadka have been elected to the executive committee of the associate section.

Similarly, Gopal Kedia, Mahendra Kumar Shrestha, Kamal Kumar Shrestha, Umesh Dalmia and Kishor Kumar Acharya also secured victory in the election.

Newly elected Senior Vice President Dhakal is the chairman of IME Group which runs Global IME Bank, IME General Insurance, IME Life Hathway Investment, IME Cooperatives, Chandragiri Hills, IME Automotives and is also involved in various other businesses.

After his election victory, Dhakal pledged to work together with all factions of FNCCI to make the federation stronger. Speaking with reporters after the election, Dhakal said that the existence of different panels has come to and end with the completion of the election.