Around 24% of voters had cast their ballots by 1 pm on Thursday in Nepal’s parliamentary elections, with more than 4.45 million voters participating since voting began at 7 am. The Election Commission reported that this percentage accounted for the total registered voters, which includes over 18.90 million eligible individuals, including 915,119 newly registered voters. This election marks the first since the Gen-Z revolt last year that led to the ousting of the government.
Police confirmed that the voting process was proceeding peacefully across the country, with only minor incidents reported. Deputy Inspector General Abi Narayan Kafle mentioned that polling was running smoothly, with sporadic minor issues at a few polling centers that were quickly resolved. No violent incidents had been reported by noon, creating a peaceful voting environment nationwide.
Despite the overall calm, a polling station in Tamakoshi Rural Municipality of Dolakha district faced a temporary halt in voting due to an incident where a candidate’s representative tried to assault a polling officer. The situation was brought under control by the police firing a warning shot, and discussions were ongoing to resolve the matter. Additionally, a minor scuffle occurred in the Sarlahi-4 constituency, where Nepali Congress President Gagan Thapa is contesting against key rival Amaresh Kumar Singh from the Rastriya Swatantra Party.
Prime Minister Sushila Karki and other prominent leaders have already cast their votes, urging citizens to actively participate in the democratic process. The elections are taking place at 23,112 polling centers, with a total of 3,406 candidates contesting under the First-Past-the-Post system and 3,135 candidates under the proportional representation system.
