Agreement reached to resume vote counting in ANNFSU (R) election

Kathmandu, January 28 — An agreement has been reached to continue the stalled vote counting process in the election for leadership of the All Nepal National Free Students Union (Revolutionary).

The counting had been halted on Saturday  due to a dispute between the two candidates for chairman, Bijay Prakash Sharma Sapkota and Hemanta Rai, over the counting process for the votes in the University and Valley special provinces.

Madan Bhattarai informed that a consensus was reached in a meeting held at the party’s central office in Parisdanda. The meeting included the candidates, the election committee, and the in-charge of the student organization, Himal Sharma.

According to Bhattarai, the candidates agreed to submit their written opinions to the election committee, and the committee’s decision would be accepted.

Bhattrai stated, “There is an agreement to resume the vote counting. The candidates will provide written feedback, and the election committee will make its decision based on that. Counting will likely resume at 3 p.m.”

The dispute had stemmed from the issue of which ink should be considered valid for the ballots. The Sapkota faction insisted that all types of ink used should be recognized, while the Rai faction argued that only the ink specified by the Election Commission should be accepted.

The vote counting was also delayed due to a dispute over transporting the ballot boxes to Parisdanda for the process. The election committee confirmed that 522 votes remain to be counted in both provinces, with the vote counting in other provinces already completed.

Currently, Sapkota is leading by 20 votes.