As the House of Representatives election on March 5 approaches, voters are returning to their villages, but many in Mugum Karmarong Rural Municipality–1 and 2 in Mugum have not yet reached their homes.
Candidates have been busy with door-to-door campaigning. A Nepal Army patrol from Gamgadhi bazaar did not find voters in the villages and returned. With the election date nearing, army patrols have intensified in the high Himalayan areas of Mugum Karmarong to ensure a free, fair, safe, and credible election, according to Commander Khadga Bahadur Shrestha of the Shri Hanumandhwaj unit. He added that patrols have been deployed across all polling stations in the district to address potential security risks.
Residents of Mugum and Dolfu villages often move to Gamgadhi or Jumla during the cold season, or migrate for work, making it difficult to locate voters. Despite the challenging geography and harsh weather, active security arrangements are expected to help conduct the election peacefully.
Mugum village has around 300 households, and reaching polling centers is especially difficult for the elderly and children. Travel costs from Gamgadhi are over Rs. 3,000 per person, and from Jumla over Rs. 10,000. To manage polling, 417 election staff have been deployed, according to Kamal Upadhyay, head of the Mugum District Election Office.