Ballot box has caught fire in the Shanti Shreejana basic School of Darchula Municipality-4, Nawalparasi East. Suman Ghimire, chief election officer informed that Narayan Bhandari, a voter, has been arrested by the police in the charge of causing this incident. He also informed that the voting has been disrupted following the incident.
The Nepali Congress has voted alone in the polling station located in Tamakosi Rural Municipality 3. Dolakha representative Uddhav Pokharel said that the representatives of the power alliance occupied the polling place and voted alone. According to Pokharel, there was a clash between representatives of the ruling coalition and representatives of UML in Ward No. 2 and 3. The police fired a few rounds in the air to control the clash. Voting has started after the clash was brought under control.
According to Bajura Representative Padam Bahadur Singh, a ballot box was set on fire at Bhagwati Basic School polling station in Swamikartik Khapar Rural Municipality-1. The election has been postponed after the ballot boxes on the proportional side of the provincial assembly were set on fire. Electoral Officer Ram Kumar Yadav said that the people coming in line suddenly set fire to the ballot box. Elections have resumed in the polling stations of Budhiganga Municipality-8 and Budhinanda Municipality-5. Eight polling stations in the district Budhiganga Municipality-8, Budhinanda Municipality-5, Swamikartik Khapar Rural Municipality-3 and 4, Budhinanda Municipality-5, Triveni Municipality-3 and 7, Jagannath Rural Municipality-4 polling stations have been suspended, but political parties, employees DSP Surya Thapa of the District Police Office informed that after the all-party meeting of the security personnel, the polling process has started again.
In Dhading, two people have been injured in the clash that occurred in the Mahakali Secondary School of Siddhalek Rural Municipality-7, Dhading. A clash occurred after the dilemma of who shall vote on behalf of the vulnerable people. Rupak Khatiwada, 23 and Roshan Giri, 33 were injured in the clash. According to Sitaram Adhikari, INSEC district representative, the polling has been resumed after the tightening of the security following the clash.
According to Rukum representative, Manisha KC, police have arrested three Biplav cadres on the charge of attempting to disrupt the election. Parmananda Ghimire, chief district officer, informed that the accused were arrested for tearing the ballot paper, destroying the ballot boxes and trying to disrupt the election in Aathbishkot Municipality-4, 11 and 13. Among the arrested individuals were district Coordinator of the youth organization, Mahesh Basnet, 30, a member of the central office of ANNISU (revolutionary), Hari Pun, 28, an organizing committee member of the organization, Rakesh B.K, 28. They were arrested from different places.
According to Dolpa Representative, Bishnu Prasad Devkota, a clash occurred between the cadres of coalition and CPN UML in the pooling centre at Gauri basic school, Thulo Bheri Municipality-9. Polling was disrupted for 30 minutes following the clash. Dipendra Kumar Upadhyaya, Polling officer informed that the polling has resumed now.
According to Jhapa Representative Naresh Khati, a voter was accused of tearing their ballot paper in a polling booth at Devi Secondary school, Birtamod -5, Jhapa. The accused hasn’t been identified yet.
According to Rupandehi Representative Rima B.C, Taboraj Alam, 39, a voter at Bujhauli Basic School election centre, Siddhartha Municipality-11, Rupandehi, was assaulted at the voting centre. A dispute arose after Munii Rajbhar, police personnel, prevented Alam from entering the election center. Taboraj Alam was injured after Mukesh Alam, Ashaf Alam, and Subham Alam smashed his head with a cycle. The victim was taken to UCMS Medical College for treatment. S.P Rabindra Regmi, District Police Office, dismissed the incident by claiming it to be a personal dispute.
According to Amrit Baskune, Myagdi Representative, polling has been disrupted in the Sikh Secondary School’s polling centre of Annapurna Rural Municipality-5, following a dispute. Dispute broke out after the ballot paper for Provincial Assembly was dropped in the House of representative’s box and vice versa. Tara Bahadur Thapa, polling officer of Sikh polling centre B informed that, polling got disrupted after the casting of 158 votes in booth A and 155 in booth B. Thapa stated that the discussion has been started to resume the polling, however, they are yet to come to the conclusion.
According to Rupandehi Representative Rima BC, polling has been disrupted in the polling centre of Kanchanpur Rural Municipality-4. Dispute broke out after the ballot paper for Provincial Assembly was dropped in the House of representative’s box and vice versa. Polling got disrupted after the casting of 66 votes in booth A of Rudrapur Secondary School and 32 in booth of Saljandi, Sainamaina Municipality and Pashupati Secondary School.
According to Rukum West Representative Manisha KC, 64 prisoners in Rukum Jail have voted. Till now 64 prisoners have cast their votes in the temporary polling station designated in the prison office. According to polling officer Laxman BK, although there is a list of 66 prisoners, only 64 people have cast their votes. It is said that two of the prisoners whose names were included in the list did not vote because they are not currently in Rukum prison. Out of 124 prisoners in Rukum Jail, only 66 names were included in the final voter list. There is a provision for temporary voters who have submitted their details within the specified period to vote for the proportional representation of the House of Representatives.
According to Morang Representative Binod Subedi, polling in the polling centre of Karaiya had been disrupted following the bomb blast has been resumed. Polling had been postponed after the bomb blast at 9:30 in the morning. Nepal Police had taken the situation under control after displacing the crowd and conducting a search operation. There are 2,950 voters. The district police official, Dahal informed that the polling resumed at 13:20 pm after verifying all the casted votes.
According to Humla Representative Nanda Singh, the polling at the polling centre of Devkota Elementary School of Sarkegada Rural Municipality-3, which had been disrupted following a clash has been resumed. A clash occurred between the cadres of ruling collation candidate Karchen Lama and an independent candidate Mangal Bahadur Shahi. Meanwhile, Prem Bhandari, assistant polling officer and Arjun Uparkoti from Nepal police were injured in the clash. They suffered injuries in their head. Police air fired 18 rounds of bullets to take the situation under control.
According to Kul Bahadur Nepali, Arghakhanchi representative, polling has been postponed after the ballot paper for the member of house of representative was exchanged with that of provincial assemblies’ and vice versa. They are trying to resolve the issue through all-party meeting.
According to Jay Krishna Yadav, Sunsari representative, polling was completed at 11 am in the regional prison of Jhumka. Fourty imnates voted in the election. So far, 35% of the voting has been concluded in the district. Polling is being conducted peacefully.
According to Sankhuwasabha representative, Bhawani Karki, polling has been postponed in the Saraswati Secondary School, Chainpur Municipality-6, after the exchanging of 45 ballot papers. Police has arrested the Biplav cadres, Surya Damai, Sukbahadur Pariyar, Nishan Kumar Pun and Hari Bahadur Bista in the charge of vandalizing Tarebaraha Elementary School of Machhapuchre Rural Municipality-8, Kaski. Polling was postponed shortly after the accused destroyed the ballot boxes.
According to Ganesh Joshi, Doti representative, Bhola Bhatta, DSP of district police office, informed that the bomb disposal team have disposed a suspicious pressure cooker implanted by an unidentified group at the polling centre of Bhuweneshwor Secondary School, K.I. Singh Rural Municipality ward number. 5. Bhatta also informed that polling is being conducted peacefully in other polling centres of the district and security has been strengthened.
According to Lily Kunwar, Kanchanpur Representative, police have arrested eight cadres of NCP Bahumat from Bhrikuti polling centre of Bhimdutta Municipality on November 20. District coordinator of bahumat party, Naksar Bista, Vice-Chairperson of Krantikari student organization, Birendra Shah, Incharge of Youth Organization, Dipendra Eri, Surendra Dhanuk, Birendra Nath, Suraj Nath and Suraj Malla were arrested by the police. Bomb disposal team of Nepal police disposed three bombs implanted at the polling centres of Bhimdutta Municipality-6 and Punarwas Municipality-2 by unidentified groups on November 20. Chakra Bahadur Shah, DSP of the district police office, informed that the polling has been resumed after the disposal of the bomb and the security has been strengthened.
According to Dhankuta Representative, Ishwor Thapa, polling has been concluded in the district jail, Dhankuta. Out of 88 inmates in the prison, 42 of them were eligible voters. However, as per Shiva Shrestha, polling officer, after the death of one and release of one, only 40 of them casted their votes. As per him, the sealing of ballot box will be conducted after 5pm.
According to Tehthum representative Suresh Khatri, Chief election officer Pramesh Pokharel informed that 88-year-old Yonghangdap Limbu, who had come to vote at Ratnamavi polling station in Tehrathum, died.
According to Babita Mainali, Ilam representative, polling was postponed for 10 minutes in the polling centre of Sirese Secondary School, Jogmai Municipality-5, after the bomb blasted 50m away from the centre. Nepal Police has taken the situation under control.
According to Bajura Representative Padam Bahadur Singh, voting has been postponed after a dispute arose in three polling stations in the district. Voting has been postponed at eight polling stations of Budhiganga Municipality Ward No. 8, Budhinanda Municipality Ward No. 5 and Swamikartik Khapar Rural Municipality Ward No. 3 and 4, Budhinanda Municipality Ward No. 5, Triveni Municipality Ward No. 3 and 7, Jagannath Rural Municipality Ward No. 4 has been done DSP Surya Thapa of the District Police Office said that the polling process was suspended due to the dispute of various political parties when they tried to cast the absentee vote at 10:00 am. During the dispute, when there was a clash between the political parties, the police also fired in the air to control it.
Padam Bahadur Singh, district representative of INSEC, who was working for supervision at Sharda Mavi polling station located in Budhiganga Municipality-7, was also abused by the Nepali Congress workers and the motorcycle number 7 P 7153 he was using was taken into custody and returned only for 30 minutes. Sher Bahadur Rawat, the victim, said that even when the police stationed at the polling station were informed about the security, the police became only a spectator and returned to Martadi due to lack of security arrangements.
According to Dang representative Jaynarayan Pun, voting has been postponed after four ballot papers of the provincial assembly were cast, and the polling at the C polling station of Dang Tulsipur Submetropolitan-10 Janajagruti Secondary polling station has been postponed. After it was found that only the four ballot papers of the state assembly were distributed, the polling of the said centre was stopped from 11 am. This became known after the voters did not find the symbol of the candidate of the House of Representatives. It has lost 92 votes in the centre. Polling officer Pushpalata Gharti informed that the ballot box, ballot box, deposit and re-voting were agreed upon by bringing new ballot papers and ballot boxes. Voting is going on in A and B centres of this polling station. There are 728 voters in the postponed centre.
According to Mandatta Rawal, Humla district representative, polling started at 11 am in the temporary polling centre of jumla prison. There are 14 voters in the polling centre. The polling couldn’t start on time since other inmates demonstrated protest demanding for assurance of voting right of all the prisoners.
According to Santosh Thapa, Parbat representative, polling has been postponed in the Tilakhari ‘B’ pooling centre at Modi Rural Municipality-6. The polling was postponed at 10 am after the election officer gave the ballot paper for house of representative’s member instead of provincial assembly’s. Raju Dhungana, spokesperson of chief election officer informed that an all-party meeting is being conducted to resolve the issue.
According to Nanda Singh, Humla representative, two temporary police and Prem Bhandari, assistant polling officer have been injured in the clash between the independent and coalition candidate’s cadres at Devkota Elementary School, Sarkedanda Rural Municipality-3. Clash occurred after 60 people casted their vote. Police informed that 30 additional security personnel had to be mobilized to bring the situation under control. Police also notified that stones were thrown by the conflicting parties and a few ballot papers were destroyed.
According to Bardiya Representative Man Bahadur Chaudhary, a pressure cooker bomb exploded near Gulariya Metropolitan-2 Shambhusharan Secondary polling station. Although there were no casualties from the explosion, the voters were shocked. Two hours after the explosion, the voting was stopped and resumed. The pressure cooker bomb found in the culvert 100 meters east of Rajapur Municipality-8 Bheri polling station and about 300 meters away from Gulriya Municipality-3 Khairapur Shambhusharan secondary school has been defused by the Nepali Army team. Similarly, suspicious objects have been found in Baghaiyatal rural municipality-2 Jagatiya Saraswati Secondary school near polling station and Thakurbaba Municipality-2 Ambasa east west highway. According to the police, a team of the Nepali Army has reached the place to deactivate it. Similarly, in Gulryia Municipality-6 town hall polling station, voting started from 7.30 a.m. due to controversy after stickers were found pasted on the ballot boxes of the State House of Representatives and the Provincial House of Representatives.
According to Sabnam Sharma, INSEC observer, polling has been resumed after 13 voters recasted their votes in Maula Islamic School, Pokhara Metropolitan City, Kudahar, following a short disruption. Dispute occurred when 14 ballot papers of provincial assembly and house of representative for proportional representation and first past the post was dropped in the same ballot box.
According to Dipendra Adhikari, Chitwan representative, Nepal communist party, Biplav’s cadres have attempted to set the ballot box on fire in the polling station of Bramhasthaniya School, Rapti Municipality-8, Khirka. Biplav cadres had attempted to set the ballot box on fire by climbing the wall in the morning of November 20. Jacket of one individual was burnt in the process. Despite the arrival of around 50 people to set the fire, they were not successful in doing so. The cadres left the station after the arrival of security personnel. Polling halted for a while after the incident has been commenced again.
According to Jiwan Sejuwal, Rom Bahadur Mahat, Chief District Officer, informed that suspicious object has been spotted in Lokprig Secondary School, Gamfa, Mahadev Masta Secondary School, Ratapani, Saraswati Secondary School, Rikhiya, Bhagwati Elementary School, Lamu, ward office of ward number 4, Chimandungi and Nepal National Elementary Shcool of Khatyar Rural Municipality. Suspicious object has been disposed by the disposal team of Nepal police and the polling is ongoing peacefully right now.
According to INSEC election observer Sushma Acharya, a polling station at Macchapuchre Rural Municipality-5, Riwan, Kaski, had to postpone the polling time by 40 minutes due to a lack of voters turn up. Acharya observed that the voters don’t seem enthusiastic about the House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly election compared to the local election.
According to Morang Representative Binod Subedi, polling has been postponed at Karaiya Devisthan centre located in Budhiganga Rural Municipality-1 due to a riot inside the polling station. There was a loud explosion inside the centre while the voters were voting in the queue. With the sound of the explosion, there was a stampede among the voters. Chief District Officer Kashiraj Dahal informed that the voting was postponed after the voters ran away panicking that the bomb had been blasted. Initially, there were rumours of a bomb blast. During the process of understanding, it has been found that there has been a breakdown.”-He said-”The voting has been postponed for some time after there was a stampede among the voters. Preparations are being made to start voting again. Dahal said that it is yet to be ascertained who took the ballot box and who did it inside the polling station. He said that the search is on for those involved in the incident.
According to Bajura Representative, Padam Bahadur Singh, polling has been postponed in three polling centres of Bajura district following a dispute. Polling has been postponed in the polling stations of Budiganga Municipality, ward number 8, ward number 5 and ward number 4 of Swamikartik Khapar Rural Municipality. DSP Surya Thapa informed that polling has been postponed after the dispute between the carders of different political parties.
According to Banke representative Laxmi Tharu, voting has started in a peaceful manner in the district.
According to Banke’s observer Balika Budhathoki, the Nepali Army team neutralized the suspicious object near Kohalpur Municipality-3 Janata Secondary School Maithawa polling station at 3 am. Voting has started from 7.42 am in Baijnath Rural Municipality-4 Nera Secondary School Naulapar. Similarly, polling started late at 7.30 pm due to poor management of staff at Janaki rural municipality-4 ward office Shivanagar polling station.
According to Gulmi representative Toplal Aryal, polling started in the district from 7 am in a peaceful manner in Malika rural municipality- 5. The voting process has been stopped at the polling station of the Secondary School. The employees were initially given the ballot papers of the House of Representatives, but it was stopped after the ballot papers of the Provincial Assembly were given in two places. A solution is being sought through all-party discussions.
According to Pyuthan representative Rabindra Pandey, the voting process has started from 7 o’clock in a peaceful manner in all 223 polling stations. According to the police, suspicious objects were found in six different places in the district. Pyuthan Municipality- 10 in Bagdula, Pyuthan Khalanga road, Pyuthan Municipality – 10 in Maranthana Bazar, Pyuthan Municipality – 9 at a distance of about 100 meters from Bal Bidhya Secondary School Majua polling station, Pyuthan Municipality – 8 on Khapreng Khola Jhimruk Corridor road, Pyuthan Municipality – 8 Bagdula Hadigaira Nepali Army soldier Madhu Thapa said that six suspicious objects were found near the bridge and Pyuthan Municipality-10 Maranthana suspension bridge and were defused by the bomb disposal team of the Nepali Army. The police said that the suspicious item may have been kept by the boycotting group.
According to Dang representative, Jaya Narayan Pun, team of Nepal police has disposed the suspicious object spotted at the polling centre near Hemantapur ward office. Likewise, Nepal police disposed a pressure cooker bomb found within 300m of polling station at elementary school, Tulsipur-14, at 8:30 in the morning. Voters participation is minimal in the district. The suspicious object found at Ghorahi Submetropolitan-15 Bharatpur’s Mahendra Multiple Campus was defused 10 minutes before the start of voting by Nepal Army’s bomb disposal team from Ranshing Dal Gana Ghorahi. Voter panic was caused by the muted voice. According to the police, suspicious items have been placed on the main road to influence the election.
According to Bajura Representative, Padam Bahadur SinghNepali Congress Caders assaulted two election observers at a polling station in Saradha Secondary School, Budiganga Municipality -7. The caders attacked Padam Bahadur Singh, INSEC Bajura district representative, and Sherbahadur Raut, NEOC, at 9 am on November 20. They confiscated Raut’s election observer Id card and his motorcycle. The injured are being taken to Martadi Hospital Bajura, for treatment.
According to Humla Representative Nanda Singh, Voting has not started in three polling centres of Namkha Rural Municipality-6 and Muchu of Ward-5 of Humla due to cold weather. District Police Office Humla said that polling could not be held in Til, Jang, Halji and Ward No. 5 Muchu of Namkha-6 due to extreme cold. DSP Krishnaraj Ojha of the District Police Office said that due to the cold, voting could not take place in Sunkhani, Halji village polling centre of Limi village, Bhrikuti basic school polling centre of Jang village, Himshikhar Basic polling centre of Til village and Khasrapani basic polling centre of Muchu. Currently, out of 59 polling stations, voting has started in 55 polling stations, said Shyam Bahadur Rana, Acting Election Officer of District Election Office Humla. Election Officer Rana says that the polling is starting peacefully in all the polling centres of the district.
Inmates of District Jail, Tanahu participating in the polling.
According toTanahu representative, Prakash Chand Bhattarai, polling hadn’t started in Krishna Secondary School, Dhiring Rural Municipality-1, till 8:30 in the morning. CPN UML has restricted the voting till two of their cadres, arrested by the police last night weren’t released.
According to Mugu district representative Jewan Sejuwal, suspicious objects were found and disposed of by Nepal Army at six different election centers of Khitiyad Rural Municipality, Mugu. According to CDO, Rome Bahadur Mahat, the objects were not explosives but instead planted to threaten the voters.
According to Gorkha Representative Hareram Upreti, a dog and a suspicious object with wires were found at the World Capital polling station located in Gorkha Municipality-8. District Police Office Gorkha SP Kedar Khanal said that a suspicious item was found near the polling station and a team of the Nepali Army has reached out to dispose of it. The voting is going on.
Parbati Acharya
According to Bara representative Bholanath Paudel, the voting process has not started even after 8:11 am at the polling station of Nepal National Basic School in Bajani village located in Karaimai rural municipality-3. Polling Officer Ganga Prasad Sapkota has informed that there was a delay while preparing. Voters have been standing outside the polling station to vote since 6:30 am.
According to Dhanusha representative Dipendra Prasad Singh, the voting process for the members of the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly has started from 7 am today. As all the preparations for the election were done on November 20, the voting started at the scheduled time in most of the polling stations.
According to INSEC Humla District Representative Nanda Singh, Namkha Rural Municipality-1 Namkha Khyamjong Primary School Dhiga Polling Station of Humla District has not started the polling. It is a polling station with Lama community. Polling has been delayed due to delayed arrival of the voters.
According to INSEC Observer Kamala Lamichhane, polling started in Narayan Secondary School of Kushma Municipality-4 at 7:20 am.
Photo: Mohan Chand.
Voting has started from 7 am in Dang. Ghorahi-15 The bomb disposal team of the Nepal Army of Ransin Dal Battalion, Ghorahi disposed of the suspicious item near Mahendra Multiple Campus in Bharatpur 10 minutes before the polling. According to the police, suspicious items have been placed on the main road to influence the election.
