KATHMANDU: Khabarhub brings to you a glimpse of major developments of the day in Nepal, including politics, business/economy, sports, entertainment, and more.

President calls on citizens to take part in voting enthusiastically

President Bidya Devi Bhandari has urged the entire Nepali citizenry to enthusiastically take part in the voting for the elections to the Member of the House of Representatives and Province Assembly taking place tomorrow, November 20.

In a message today on the occasion of the HoR and PA elections, 2022, the Head-of-State termed the Right to Vote is the supreme exercise of the civic rights.

The President said the periodic election is the means of bringing the people’s sovereignty into real practice, reflecting the reality that people are the actual source of the State power.

Over 1.6 million voters of Gandaki Province voting in tomorrow’s election

A total of 1,662,246 registered voters in Gandaki Province are going to exercise their franchise in tomorrow’s House of Representatives (HoR) and Province Assembly election.

Among the registered voters, female constituted the highest at 869,538 while the number of male voters stood at 792,697.

Similarly, 11 voters were categorized as ‘others’, whose gender identities were neither male nor female, according to the Province Election Office, Pokhara.

Preparations for elections completed in three Kathmandu Valley prisons

Inmates in prison are exercising their right to vote in the House of Representatives and State Assembly member elections on Sunday for the first time.

It has been arranged for inmates making it to the voters’ list, except those convicted of election offenses, to vote under the proportional representatives electoral system in the House of Representatives election.

Meanwhile, the relevant office has reported that all election preparations have been completed in three Kathmandu Valley prisons. 182 inmates in two Kathmandu prisons and one in Lalitpur will be allowed to cast their votes.

NC takes action against three leaders

Nepali Congress has taken action against its three leaders accusing them of campaigning against the common candidate of the ruling coalition in the Bara-4 constituency.

The ruling coalition has fielded Krishna Kumar Shrestha (Kisan) of CPN (Unified Socialist) as its candidate in Bara-4.

Issuing a statement, NC’s Central Discipline Committee Coordinator Ananda Prasad Dhungana said Bara district president Amirilal Raut Bhediyar, district committee member Hari Prasad Thapaliya and representative of the constituency Sushil Dhodari have been expelled from the party’s general membership.

UML candidate Niraula held on charges of distributing money to influence votes

UML provincial candidate Deepak Niraula in Kathmandu Constituency No 5 was detained by the police on Friday evening on the charge of distributing money to influence voters.

Niraula and UML City Committee Chairman Pradeep Dangol had reached a house in Budhanilkantha-6 as they allegedly went to distribute money.

The police arrested them based on the information of local residents, according to the Budhanilkantha Police Division.

NHRC urges to play constructive role in holding elections in free and fair environment

A High Level Monitoring team of National Human Right Commission (NHRC) has monitored the pre-voting human rights situation in 67 districts of seven provinces.

According to the facts and information received in the course of monitoring, three people were injured in the explosion of bombs in Nepalgunj of Banke and Bhojpur districts and one person was seriously injured in a clash between the cadres of ruling alliance and CPN-UML in Naugad Rural Municipality of Darchula.

Similarly, vehicles of independent candidates and Nepali Congress candidates were vandalized in Bharatpur of Chitwan.

Nepal sees three new coronavirus cases in past 24 hours

Nepal recorded a total of three new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours as of Saturday.

All the three confirmed cases were detected through the RT-PCR method.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, a total of 322 swab samples were tested in the past 24 hours.

Press Council Nepal objects to fake news posted on social networking sites

The Press Council Nepal has said its serious attention was drawn to the fake news disseminated in social networking sites aimed at influencing the elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) and Provincial Assembly to take place on Sunday.

Issuing a press release on Saturday, the Council has also appealed to all to remain cautious to the fake news being circulated through the social networking sites.

“Serious attention of the Press Council Nepal has been drawn to the dissemination of rumours, disinformation, fake and misleading news through the use of masthead of some media outlets in the silent period,” read the press release.

Two employees deployed for election die

Two employees who were assigned conduct election on Sunday have died in Solukhumbu and Dhankuta.

According to DSP Sunil Jung Shah of Solukhumbu District Police Office,  56-year-old Biltu Ray, a polling officer posted at Phurke Community Forest Polling Station in Solukhumbu’s Nechasalyan Rural Municipality No. 4, was found dead in his bed on Saturday morning.

Similarly,  Pabitra Yakkha Limbu, deployed at Siddheshwari Basic School Polling Station Sangurigadhi-3, Dhankuta, has also died on Friday afternoon.

Suspicious objects being planted to spread panic

With only a day to go for the election to the House of Representatives and Provincial Assembly, suspicious objects have been found in three different places in the district.

According to the District Police Office Chitwan, a suspicious item was found near the Eye Hospital in Bharatpur Metropolitan City-10 and in Astha Chowk of Ward No. 12.

Groups involved in anti-election activities placed suspicious items inside a pressure cooker at the two locations, said spokesperson of the office Deputy Superintendent of Police Bijayaraj Pandit. It may have been carried out to spread panic during the election.

Counting booths secured with mesh wires and CCTV cameras

The vote counting centre in Chitwan has been secured with mesh wires and CCTV cameras.

It has been applied to all the vote counting booths where the votes will be counted in the three constituencies of the district.

Chief Returning Officer Ritendra Thapa said that mesh wires and CCTV cameras have been installed to tighten the security system at the vote counting station.

It may be noted the incident of tearing of the ballot paper during the counting of votes following the local level elections in 2074 is still a topic for discussion during any election.