By Our Reporter Mayoral candidates of the main opposition, the CPN-UML, have been leading in all four metropolis and important municipalities in the on-going slow-paced vote counting. In Kathmandu Metropolis that has the largest number of voters, UML mayoral candidate Bidhya Sundar Shakya was ahead of Sajha party’s KishorThapa by the time this story was prepared. Interestingly, NC’s Raju Raj Joshi was behind Thapa and just ahead of RanjuDarshana of Bibeksheel Party. Although only a negligible number of votes were counted as of Tuesday, the results clearly hinted that the voters of Nepali Congress voted for Thapa and Darshana instead of the party candidate and expressed their anger against party president SherBahadurDeubafor his decisions to impeach Chief Justice SushilaKarki and forge election alliance with the CPN-Maoist. The initial results show that NC candidate Joshi is likely to get only third largest votes after UML’s Shakya and Sajha Party’s Thapa. In Lalitpur and Pokahra Lekhnath metropolis where NC had forged alliance with the Maoist Center, NC candidates are behind UML’s. In Bharatpur, where NC withdrew its candidate to support Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s daughter Renu, NC voters did not vote for Renu as she is also behind UML candidate. Likewise, five municipalities of Kathmandu including Budanilkantha, where Deuba lives and from where GaganThapa had won the Constituent Assembly seats in 2070, NC’s candidate are far behind UML. The poor performance of NC candidates in metropolis and major municipalities has raised question about Deuba’s leadership quality. Candidates of the ruling party have failed to woo not only the independent voters, but also the votes of its supporters due to Deuba’s unnecessary meddling in the appointment of the IGP and his move to impeach the Chief Justice. Moreover, many NC loyalists revolted his decision to forge election alliance with the Maoist Centre by voting against NC candidates in Kathmandu. NC had clearly failed to take benefit from the NC-Maoist alliance in Kathmandu and Pokhara. Though Maoists might have voted NC candidates in Kathmandu, but the carders and supporters of the party voted Kishor Thapa and Ranju Darshana. Clearly, the learned voters of Kathmandu expressed their ire against Deuba for his controversial decisions ranging from pulling down the KP Oli-led government to impeaching Chief Justice. The election results are likely to be costly for Deuba to remain the leader of the parliamentary party. If he’s leadership is challenged, he is likely to lose majority in the parliamentary party. Deuba has been still unable to appoint office-bearers even a year after he was appointed party president. Likewise, the election results have given a clear message that the people were against the amendment to constitution by supporting the UML that has been strongly opposing the amendment. Even the RastriyaPrajatantra fared very badly in the election. Party president Kamal Thapa’s controversial decision to back the amendment bill has discouraged the voters from supporting his party. Above all, the preliminary results of the first phase local poll have indicated that UML will sweep the provincial and federal elections to be held later this year. Former Minister J P Gupta in his facebook status wrote that UML was likely to emerge as the BJP of India in the provincial and federal elections. He also said that UML was turning into a rightist party instead of a communist party, and the Madhes-based parties’ slogan to chase the party from the Tarai will be just a tall talk.