Kathmandu. KATHMANDU: Laxmi Prasad Upreti has been elected the chairman of the National Cooperative Bank. In the election of Board of Directors held on Thursday, Upreti, who is a director from Koshi Province, defeated his rival Paritosh Poudyal to win the chairman’s post.

In the 7-member board of directors, Upreti got 5 votes while Poudyal got only 2 votes.

Upreti, who represented Nepal Multipurpose Cooperative, Jhapa, was previously serving as the account committee coordinator of the bank. The election process was initiated immediately after the swearing-in of the board of directors on May 26.

The new executive committee of the bank includes Mandira Acharya from Madhesh, Paritosh Poudyal from Bagmati, Kamala Devi Giri from Gandaki, Bishnu Prasad Baral from Lumbini, Kali Bahadur Mahatara from Karnali and Manmohan Bista from Sudurpaschim province. Likewise, Tara Gurung has been elected as the coordinator of the committee while Mamata Shah and Yubaraj Pokhrel are the members.

As per the amended bylaws, at least two women are required to be represented on the bank’s board and the board of directors will nominate two more expert directors in the coming days.