CHITWAN: Bipin Kumar Acharya was elected general secretary of the Rastriya Swatantra Party at the party’s general convention in Bharatpur, Chitwan, defeating rivals including Manish Jha, Sagar Dhakal, and Ganesh Karki.

Several candidates, including Ganesh Parajuli, Raju Pandey, Kabindra Burlakoti, Jagadish Kharel, Ranju Darshana, and Pramod Neupane, withdrew their candidacies in support of Acharya before the vote.

A member of the House of Representatives, Acharya previously served as the party’s joint general secretary.