BIRATNAGAR, May 24: With just 21 days left for the second round of local elections, preparations for the polls are in full swing in Morang district.

The Regional Election Office (REO), Biratnagar, has sent its officers to various electoral constituencies so as to speed up the election preparations. According to REO chief Prem Prasad Sanjel, the election fever has fully gripped the district. Sanjel further said that as many as 651,000 ballot papers have reached the district. “We have some 8,000 ballot boxes ready for the elections,” said Sanjel. 

Though the election officers had begun the poll preparations earlier, the preparations came to a halt when the government postponed the elections in provinces 1, 2, 5 and 7 to June 14. However, the preparations have resumed again as the date for the election is approaching nearer. According to Sanjel, some complications have arisen after the Biratnagar Sub-metropolitan City was converted into a metropolitan city.

“We had to change the voter's identity cards and voter lists of various rural municipalities after Biratngaar was converted into a metropolitan city,” said Sanjel. Besides that, some more polling stations and polling centers were added. “With many wards and rural municipalities being new, arranging for the necessary materials has been really challenging,” he added.

According to Sanjel, though the recent changes in the borders of wards and rural municipalities have affected the election preparations, that has not diminished the election fervor in the district. 

The REO on Monday conducted a training for the election officers so as to teach them how to conduct successful and systematic elections. Yagya Raj Koirala, chief election officer of Morang, informed Republica that security has been tightened in view of the elections. “There will be two-level security at the polling stations,” Koirala said.

Not only the election officers but also the political parties have intensified election activities in the district. They have started paying door-to-door visits and are also holding discussions on the possible candidates.

 
• local elections
 
• regional election office
 
• second phase
 
• morang