Nepal Prime Minister and the Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba won the parliamentary party (PP) leader election held on Wednesday, overpowering his nearest challenger, party General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa by 39 votes, officials said.

Deuba, 76, secured 64 votes, while Thapa, 45, could muster only 25 votes, they said.

All 89 lawmakers of the party participated in the voting.

The win means that Deuba will possibly lead the next government after the Nepali Congress emerged as the single-largest party in the general elections held on November 20.

The party has won 89 seats -- 57 in the first past the post-election system and 32 in the proportional representation election system -- in the House of Representatives in the recently-concluded general elections.