KATHMANDU, Sept 16: Security has been beefed up in the eight districts of Province 2 which are scheduled to go to polls on Monday. The third and final phase of local polls will elect 6,600 representatives for one metropolitan city, three sub-metropolises, 73 municipalities and 59 rural municipalities.
As many as 60,000 security personnel from Nepal Army, Armed Police Force and Nepal Police have been deployed for the polls, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA). An undisclosed number of security personnel have been kept standby for emergency.
MoHA officials said that the ministry has ensured necessary security arrangement in each polling station to hold polls in free and fair manner. Like in the first two phases of elections, the government has arranged three-tier security for the polls with Nepal Police guarding the inner circle of the polling station.
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Even though the security forces are expecting lesser degree of threats due to participation of Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) in the polls, they still see threats from various underground outfits active in the region. A number of underground outfits including the one led by Jwala Singh have prime support in the central and eastern tarai.
"There are some minor threats but we are taking all required precautions. Voters can go to polling stations and cast their vote without any fear or threat," MoHA spokesperson Ram Krishna Subedi said. He said that the patrolling has been intensified since the last few days.
MoHA officials said that the Nepal-India border in eight districts will be sealed until Monday midnight to prevent any untoward incidents. The government has already announced Monday as public holiday in the poll districts: Saptari, Siraha, Mahottari, Sarlahi, Parsa, Rautahat, Bara and Dhanusha.
Officials at the Election Commission (EC), which oversees the overall poll security, said they have ensured fool-proof security in all the polling centers. Keeping in view the logistical and security arrangements, the Election Commission has fixed 3,578 polling centers in the province.
"Security agencies have briefed that there is no threats to poll security. Moreover, we have not received any reports of poll-related violence. So, we expect that the polls will remain largely peaceful," EC spokesman Narendra Dahal said.
According to the EC, a total of 36,318 candidates have fielded their candidacies in Province 2 which has around 26, 64,950 voters.
