67% voting in Nepal final phase

Kathmandu, December 7 

Nepal today registered 67 per cent voter turnout in the last phase of the historic provincial and parliamentary elections that many hope will bring the much- needed political stability to the Himalayan nation.

This was slightly above from the first phase when 65 per cent voters had exercised their franchise on November 26. The counting of votes has also started in most of the districts following an all-party meeting.

The voting, which began at 7 am and closed at 5 pm, was by-and-large peaceful except some minor incidents of violence, Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhi Prasadi Yadav said.

Three persons were injured in clashes between the cadres of the ruling Nepali Congress and the main opposition CPN-UML at a polling centre in Bhaktapur district, about 14 km east of Kathmandu.

The Election Commission said 67 per cent votes were cast across 15,344 polling centres in 45 districts which went to the polls under the second and final phase of provincial and parliamentary elections.

As many as 7,752 polling centres were arranged for today’s voting. A total of 155,000 employees and 200,000 security personnel were deployed on poll duty.

More than 12.2 million voters were eligible to exercise their voting rights in the second phase of the polls.

The voting took place for 128 constituencies of Parliament’s House of Representatives and 256 seats of Provincial Assemblies in 45 districts. — PTI