BIRATNAGAR: Election activities are taking place in full swing following the conclusion of Tihar festival.
As the November 20 elections to the House of Representatives and the Province Assembly come close, contesting political parties and independent candidates are reaching out to voters with baggage full of promises to woo them.
Development activities and prosperity have not missed on their election manifestos.
Province 1 is no exception.
In Morang district of the province, there are altogether six constituencies. Among them, constituency 3 is regarded more competitive.
In the erstwhile general polls, Bhanu Bhakta Dhakal from the CPN (UML) won by slim margins of votes against his nearest rival Sunil Sharma from the Nepali Congress.
He got 42,413 votes while Sharma 40,506 votes. Interestingly, both of them are contesting in the polls this time too, and they are regarded as main competitors.
Candidate Sharma has prioritised health, education, transport and employment in his election manifesto.
“I lost the previous elections by a little margin of votes. I will win this time as I am backed by the coalition,” he expressed his hope.
Similarly, Dhakal’s plan would be to complete remaining tasks he could not do during his tenure as a minister in the previous government.
For the polls, independent candidates this time have come as tough competitors against the established political parties with their apparent popularity among voters.
Out of the total 33 candidates in the constituency (both for the federal and province), 19 are independent candidates.
There are a total of 139,833 eligible voters in the constituency, according to the district election office.
Similarly, there are 48 polling places. However, first time voters seem unconvincing by dreams and promises distributed by contesting parties.
Savar Shrestha from Belbari-11, who is going to cast his vote for the first time in the polls, urges people to vote for those who can understand people’s aspirations, genuinely deliver and root out corruption.
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