The centre-left Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa party has won the most seats in parliamentary elections in Bhutan.

The Election Commission of Bhutan says the party had won 30 National Assembly seats and the Druk Phuensum Tshogpa party had secured 17 seats in the October 18 elections.

The commission says that turnout was about 71% with about 313,000 eligible voters casting a ballot.

A Bhutanese polling official puts the indelible ink mark on the finger of a voter before she proceeds to cast her vote
A Bhutanese polling official puts the indelible ink mark on the finger of a voter before she proceeds to cast her vote (AP Photo/Anupam Nath, File)

The elections were only the third since Bhutan transitioned from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy in 2008.

Party leader and Prime Minister-elect Lotay Tshering campaigned on a pledge to reduce income inequality.

The World Bank measuring inequality in 2013 ranked Bhutan after Cambodia and before Ghana.