Nepal’s poll campaign officially begins

Political parties in Nepal officially began campaigning on Monday for the March 5 general elections, following the lifting of restrictions by the Election Commission (EC). Campaigning will continue until March 2, with door-to-door visits, rallies, public meetings, processions, corner meetings, and loudspeaker use allowed. Nepal has 18,903,689 eligible voters, including 915,119 newly registered ones. The Lower House of Parliament has 275 seats, 165 filled through first-past-the-post (FPTP) voting and 110 through proportional representation (PR). Around 3,400 candidates are contesting under FPTP, and 3,200 under PR. The EC has printed over 20 million ballot papers for each system and will conduct voting at 10,500 polling stations and 23,112 booths. More than 2,13,000 staff and 3,30,000 security personnel, coordinated with the Nepal Army, will ensure a free and fair election.