Rastriya Swatantra Party Dailekh Convention Marred by Vote Discrepancy

Surkhet. The first convention of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Dailekh has become controversial. After the announcement that Baktabahadur Bhandari was elected as the chairman, a search for 12 votes is currently underway.

There were four aspirants for the post of RSP Dailekh chairman. As consensus could not be reached, elections were held on Sunday evening. According to Prakash Budha, one of the chairman aspirants, the total number of votes cast was said to be 240.

However, the votes received by the chairman candidate appear to be 246. Elected chairman Baktabahadur Bhandari received 93 votes. Similarly, another candidate Prakash Budha received 69, Bini Bahadur Shahi received 43, and Mitraraj Pyakurel received 41 votes.

There seems to be a mismatch between the total number of votes informed by the election committee and the number of votes found during counting, which raises questions about the transparency of the election committee.

According to candidate Budha, it was said that 6 votes were invalid out of the votes cast. Subtracting 6 from 40 gives 234. But the total votes received by the chairman candidate became 246.

He has demanded an investigation into how 12 votes were extra. 'An investigation into the opaque and irresponsible work done in the election is necessary,' he said. He also stated that the RSP Dailekh district party office has been sealed so that evidence is not destroyed.

A three-member election committee under the convenorship of advocate Lokendra Shahi was appointed for the district convention. When asked about this matter, Shahi said that he had submitted all the documents to the party office after completing the election.

He also asked to inquire at the party office as he did not have that data memorized. He verbally claimed that the election was held impartially.

However, he did not answer the question of how the vote count became extra.