Nepal beefs up security for local body elections

Kathmandu: Nepal police on Thursday stepped up security across the Himalayan nation ahead of the first phase of the crucial local body elections to be held on May 14 after a gap of 20 years.

Around 44,000 persons filed their candidacies on Tuesday for 13,556 seats up for grabs in the first phase.

"We are yet to count the number of nominations filed in few districts. So far, the tally is 43,700," Election Commission Secretary Gopinath Mainali said.

In the first phase, elections are being held for 283 local units in three provinces - 3, 4 and 6. There are a total of 4,956,925 registered voters in these provinces.

The Metropolitan Police Office beefed up security in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. It deployed a total of 6,980 police personnel and 4,268 temporary cops with major focus on sensitive areas to ensure that voting takes place in a free and fair manner at all polling centres.

Acting Police Commissioner Deputy Inspector General Bam Bahadur Bhandari summoned security officers of all ranges, circles and sectors and chalked out a detailed security plan yesterday.

Control room vehicles equipped with Global Positioning System have been deployed round-the-clock in 72 places of the Kathmandu Valley that would act as a first responder if there is any untoward incident.

According to the Metropolitan Police Office, three-tier security arrangements will be put in place to ensure fool- proof security in and around polling and vote counting centres.

The government has announced a public holiday on May 14 to facilitate smooth polling.

The local level election is taking place across Nepal after a gap of 20 years. Due to political instability in the country, they have been halted since May 1997.