4,708 candidates vying for 384 seats

Males contesting for parliament 1,616; females 126

Males contesting for provincial seats 2,757; females 209

KATHMANDU, Nov 3: Political parties and independent candidates in 45 districts of the country have registered their candidacies for the second round parliamentary and provincial assembly elections scheduled for December 7.

The second round elections will elect 128 members of parliament (MPs) and 256 provincial assembly members from 45 districts. A total of 165 MPs will be elected to parliament under the First-Past-the-Post electoral system, and 330 members to the provincial assemblies. Earlier, 702 candidates filed their candidacies for the election of 111 positions to be held on November 26.

The candidacy nominations, according to local election offices, remained largely peaceful. "Candidacy registrations for the second round polls concluded in 45 districts in a peaceful manner," said Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav. "It has ensured polls on the scheduled day."

Enthused by the upcoming elections, leaders and cadres of major political parties and independent candidates reached the local election offices and registered their candidacies with fanfare. The candidacy nomination process started at 10 am and continued till 5 pm.

According to details provided by the election body, 4,708 candidates are contesting for 384 positions. Of the total candidates, 1,742 are contesting for parliament while 2,966 will be vying for the provincial assemblies.

Even as a large number of women participated in the candidacy nomination rallies, the number of female candidates has remained very low. Among candidates contesting for parliament only 126 are females while 1,616 are males. Of the total 2,966 candidates contesting the provincial assembly elections 209 are female and 2,757 are male .

Ahead of the polls, two communist parties--CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center)-- forged a poll alliance and the seats for their top leaders were allocated accordingly. The ruling Nepali Congress (NC) and Rastriya Prajatantra Party have shared seats in some election constituencies, mainly to counter the left alliance. On the other hand, two major regional parties-Federal Socialist Forum Nepal and Rastriya Janata Party Nepal-have formed an alliance in the southern plains in a move against the major political parties.

Most of the senior leaders are contesting the elections in the second round . Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba filed his nomination from Dadeldhura--1. His nomination was filed by party representatives. PM Deuba, who was scheduled to file candidacy in person, changed his mind due to his busy schedule and assigned party representatives to file on his behalf. Deuba has been winning from his home constituency since 1991.