Election campaigning formally kicks off across Nepal for March 5 polls

Kathmandu: Political parties in Nepal on Monday, February 16, officially began campaigning for the March 5 general elections.

As restrictions imposed by the Election Commission (EC) on the launch of the election campaign ended on Sunday night, candidates started door-to-door visits, public meetings and rallies.

The EC designated February 16 to March 2 as days for formal campaign activities, including public meetings, rallies, processions, corner meetings and the use of loudspeakers.

All types of campaigning must stop from midnight on March 2, 48 hours before the general election.

There are a total of 18,903,689 eligible voters for the election, including 915,119 newly registered ones, compared to the last parliamentary election in 2022.

The Lower House of Parliament has 275 lawmakers, of which 165 are elected through the first past the post (FPTP) system or direct voting while 110 are elected through proportionate voting.

While there are around 3,400 candidates under the direct voting system, 3,200 are under the proportionate system seeking to get elected during the upcoming general election.

Out of a total of 20,323,000 ballot papers required for the FPTP system, nearly all have already been printed. Similarly, 20,830,000 ballot papers for the proportional representation (PR) system have been completed.

The EC is engaged in full swing in the preparations for conducting the election through around 10,500 polling stations and 23,112 polling booths.

According to the EC, over 2,13,000 staff and more than 3,30,000 security personnel will be engaged for the smooth conduct of the general elections on March 5.

Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, spokesperson at the EC, said three tiers of election security were being arranged under the coordination of the Nepal Army to conduct the election in a free and fearless manner.