By-elections held successfully, voter turnout 60 per cent

Kathmandu : The by-election for the members of the House of Representatives (HoR) in three constituencies concluded successfully on Sunday.

According to the Election Commission (EC), the by-elections were held in a peaceful and enthusiastic atmosphere at Bara-2, Chitwan-2 and Tanahun-1.

The preliminary details of the EC showed that the voter turnout was 60 per cent in an average in all three constituencies where the by-elections were held to fill the vacant positions of lawmakers.

Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane, who was elected from Chitwan 2, was dismissed by the Supreme Court in a case related to citizenship, and the constituency then fell vacant.

Similarly, two constituencies of the federal parliament fell vacant after senior leader of Nepali Congress (NC) Ram Chandra Paudel elected from Tanahun-1 was elected as the country’s president and Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) leader Ram Sahay Prasad Yadav elected from Bara-2 as vice president.

Voting was held in the designated polling centers from 7.00 am to 5.00 pm on Sunday. According to the EC, adopted special measures to hold the election in a free and fair manner.

Except of minor incidents, the by-elections were largely peaceful.

The voting was briefly interrupted at the Naya Kiran Secondary School polling centre in Bharatpur Metropolitan City. The voting was suspended at this voting centre as the leaders and cadres of various political parties protested, saying the supporters of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) candidate chanted slogans when Rabi Lamichhane came to the voting centre. According to them, chanting of slogans is against the election code of conduct.

The polling that was suspended since 11.30 am resumed from 3pm after a four-point agreement was reached among the parties, including the RSP apologizing for having violated the code of conduct.

Polling officer Kamala Neupane said that an all-party agreement was reached after RSP agreed to ask for forgiveness for violating the code of conduct.

In Bara-2, voter turnout remained at 64 percent, in Chitwan-2 it was 63 per cent and in Tanahu-1, it was 53 per cent, the commission said.

There were altogether 353,247 eligible voters in the three constituencies, according to the Election Commission.

In the parliamentary election on November 20 last year, 63.56 per cent votes were cast in Bara-2, 67.63 per cent in Chitwan-2 and 54.03 per cent in Tanahu-1.

The ballot papers were transported from the constituencies to the office of the Chief Returning Officer by 11:00 pm on Sunday evening.

The results of the by-election will be announced by April 25, said Kamal Gyawali, under-secretary at the Election Commission.