Nepal Deploys Joint Security Forces for Upcoming Federal Parliament Elections Under Integrated Security Plan

In preparation for the upcoming House of Representatives elections, all four security agencies, coordinated by the Nepali Army, are being mobilized starting Wednesday in accordance with the Integrated Security Plan 2082 to ensure the polls are clean, independent, impartial, and free from fear.

The government has already approved and implemented the Integrated Security Plan for the House of Representatives Elections, 2082, to strengthen peace and security during the election period.

With only one month remaining until the elections, the Nepali Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force Nepal, and the National Investigation Department are being mobilized jointly to ensure security arrangements are tight, robust, and effective for the elections scheduled for Falgun 21.

Under the Integrated Security Plan, 'Election Police' recruited specifically for election purposes will also be deployed for election security. Nepal Police and Election Police will secure the inner perimeter of the polling stations. The Armed Police Force will be responsible for the second layer of security, coordinating with the Nepali Army and Nepal Police.

The Nepali Army will hold the crucial responsibility of securing the outermost layer of the security cordon. The Army stated that it will be mobilized in all 165 constituencies starting Wednesday for election purposes.

President Ramchandra Paudel granted approval for the mobilization of the Nepali Army for election security arrangements on Mangsir 11, based on the recommendation of the Prime Minister and the decision of the Council of Ministers.

Army Spokesperson and Brigadier General Rajaram Basnet informed RSS that 'bases' for the Army will be established as needed for election security, and joint patrols will be conducted based on necessity.

The Army is preparing to mobilize 80,000 personnel for the elections. Army Spokesperson Basnet confirmed that since the Integrated Security Plan 2082 has been approved by the President concerning the elections, the force will be mobilized accordingly.

The Army is being mobilized in the field one month before the elections, as directed by the Integrated Security Plan. The Army will provide security in three phases during the election process.

The Army's primary responsibilities before the election include the printing of ballot papers, transportation of ballot papers, security of polling stations, transportation of ballot boxes, and security of counting centers.

In coordination and cooperation with the Nepal Police and Armed Police Force Nepal, the Nepali Army will be responsible for securing vital structures such as airports and prisons.

During voting, the Nepali Army will remain in the third layer at election sites and centers to provide a full guarantee of security to political parties, candidates, voters, and election staff.

A total of 3,406 candidates are competing in the upcoming elections. The Election Commission implemented the election code of conduct starting Magh 4. For this election, the total number of registered voters is 18,903,689, comprising 9,240,131 women, 9,663,358 men, and 200 others.

For the elections, 23,112 polling centers have been designated across 10,967 polling stations nationwide. Furthermore, 77,000 personnel from the Nepal Police will be mobilized for the elections.

Since the existing manpower of the Nepal Police is insufficient for election management, 133,000 'Election Police' have been recruited. Security arrangements have been made by classifying constituencies as highly sensitive, sensitive, and normal, and deploying security measures accordingly.

The police stated that 2,845 polling stations have been categorized as normal, 4,442 as sensitive, and 3,680 as highly sensitive. Security has been strengthened by deploying police regularly according to these classifications.

The Armed Police Force will deploy a total of 49,686 personnel, including 34,576 from the Armed Police Force and 15,110 'Election Police'. The Armed Police Force stated that high alertness is being maintained to prevent any untoward incidents during the election period, and they are deployed to reach any incident site within 10 minutes under any circumstances.