CHITWAN, Nov 8: Chief Election Officer of Chitwan Kul Prasad Sharma has suggested that women must be engaged in vote counting considering the 'peaceful nature' of women. Speaking at a program held in Bharatpur on Tuesday, Sharma said that he wants to implement it at least in Chitwan. 

“I want to urge all the parties to send women representatives for the task. Let's begin this exemplary work from Chitwan,” he said. 

According to Sharma, women are comparatively wiser and calmer. They are not much aggressive. When the task is given to them, there could be lesser chances of ballot papers being under risk. 

“Women are peaceful. They are wise. So, it will be a great idea if there are women in the vote counting zone. I feel that there must be hundred percent women for this task,” he said, while speaking at the program organized by UNDP. 

The interesting proposal made by Sharma comes in the wake of the notorious case of tearing of ballot papers in Chitwan during the local level election. Renu Dahal and Devi Gyawali were two rival contestants from CPN (Maoist Center) and CPN-UML, respectively, for the mayoral post of Bharatpur Municipality. When Gyawali was leading the vote count by 733 votes, the count came to a halt following tearing of some ballot papers by Maoist cadres. Later, the election commission conducted re-election in the disputed ward-19 of Bharatur metropolis following the order of Supreme Court. 

“Let's not discuss what happened in the past,” said Sharma said. “I am for pin-drop silence in the vote counting room now. And I believe that this could be done,” he said. “What I have proposed is a serious and logical matter,” he added. 

Meanwhile, District Police Chief SP Deepak Thapa assured of full security during the election. “We are capable of providing full security,” he said. He added that the elements which have been carrying out anti-election activities are under police vigilance. 

 
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