May 15, Kathmandu- Gurkha Captain Bhim Saru Magar born in Nepal has been elected as the mayor of the Nuneaton Bedworth Borough in the UK. Captain Saru, a councillor from the ruling Labour Party, was elected to the post of mayor in the election held at the annual meeting held at the Nuneaton Council Hall today.

Saru received 20 votes in the borough, which has 19 Labour, 17 Conservative and two Green Party councillors. His opponent, Will Markham, received 15 votes. Four other councillors were absent from the election process. Mayor-elect Saru took the oath of office and secrecy at a full council meeting today. He was handed over the office by outgoing Mayor Will Hancox.

After taking the oath, Mayor Saru thanked the council and all the people of the borough for giving an ordinary man, born in rural Nepal and following in his father's footsteps, the opportunity to serve as mayor in the UK.

On the occasion, he said that he would make the council's services effective by including all classes and communities in the borough.

He said that it is a pride of Nepal as a whole to see Nepalese working at leadership levels in various places around the world, and he is ready to share what he has learned with Nepal. "First of all, as mayor, I have the responsibility to implement my plans for the overall development of the borough where I have been assigned to work. For that, the issues of the community here are my priorities," he said. "There is a large number of Nepali communities here too, so it will definitely be easier for them. My experience as a mayor can also be fruitful for Nepal. I am positive to collaborate with mayors."

He said he was thankful to see a former Gurkha born in Nepal elected as mayor for the first time in the more than two hundred years of Gurkha recruitment in Britain.