Over 2,000 Personnel to Be Deployed for Upcoming Baglung By-Election

Baglung. More than two thousand personnel will be mobilized for the House of Representatives by-election scheduled for Falgun 21 in Baglung.

Preparations are underway to deploy a total of two thousand security personnel, including election police and Nepal Police, in Baglung. The Nepali Army and Armed Police Force are preparing to be deployed based on need during the election. The District Election Office, Baglung, stated that preparations are being made to deploy 2,060 personnel, including polling officers, assistant polling officers, and other staff, across the 107 polling stations and 230 polling centers in Baglung.

Gokul Sharma, Information Officer at the Election Office, Baglung, informed that preparations are being made to mobilize 230 polling officers, 230 assistant polling officers, and seven other staff per polling center, totaling 1,610 personnel.

Priority is being given to civil servants for the roles of polling officer and assistant polling officer, and teachers will be brought in if there is a shortage of personnel. Baglung's Superintendent of Police, Tilak Bharti, informed that 637 Nepal Police and 1,298 election police are being prepared for deployment in Baglung. He stated that while Nepal Police will be responsible for the first cordon and security of ballot boxes, the Armed Police Force and Nepali Army will also be deployed in the outer cordon based on necessity. Bharti declined to disclose the exact numbers for the Armed Police Force and Nepali Army.

"There is a separate police mechanism called a mobile team that reaches the location immediately where there is a problem," Bharti said. "The Nepali Army and Armed Police Force will be on alert outside the polling centers so that the public can cast their votes without fear." A total of 3,995 personnel, including 1,935 security personnel (Nepal Police and election police) and 2,060 staff, will be mobilized in Baglung. The Nepali Army and Armed Police Force will be deployed separately. In Baglung, 107 polling stations and 230 polling centers have been maintained, with one polling station added and one polling center reduced due to factors such as security sensitivity, fluctuations in voter numbers, and accessibility. Two polling stations have been relocated.

A total of 193,381 voters have been registered across 10 local levels and two House of Representatives constituencies. According to the District Election Office, Baglung, there are 94,806 male voters and 98,574 female voters. A total of 23 candidates are in the electoral race for the two House of Representatives seats this time.

In Constituency No. 1, candidates in the electoral field include Bhakta Bahadur Bika of the Nepal Humanist Party, Kalyan Acharya of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Gumakumari Budha Ranamagar of the Mongol National Organization, Sushil Khadka of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, Hirabahadur K.C. of the CPN-UML, Chitraprasad Sapkota of the Pragatisheel Loktantrik Party, and Bhim Bahadur Shrish Rana of the Nepali Congress.

Similarly, Sahabir Thapa of the National Republic Nepal, Krishna Prasad Sharma Adhikari of the Rastriya Janamorcha Party, Lalbahadur Gharti of the Shram Sanskriti Party, and Tekbahadur K.C. of the CPN (Maoist) are in the field.

In Constituency No. 2, candidates in the field include Tekraj Poudel from the Nepali Congress, Manju Sharma Chalise from the CPN (UML), Gyannath Gaire from the Nepal Communist Party, Som Sharma from the Rastriya Swatantra Party, Anchal Shahi from the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), Harkabahadur Pun from the Shram Sanskriti Party, and Lokendra Ghimire from the CPN (Maoist). Candidates from the Pragatisheel Loktantrik Party, Nepal Humanist Party, Mongol National Organization, Janata Samajbadi Party, and National Republic Party are also in the electoral field, including Padam Kunwar, Tekprasad Kami, Junbahadur Thapamagar, Purnabahadur Gharti, and Narbahadur Buda, respectively.