Snow Cleared on Road to Manang's Narphabhumi Ahead of Elections, But Voters Remain Away

Pokhara. The thick snow accumulated on the road leading to Narphabhumi Rural Municipality in Manang has been cleared, reopening the route. Security personnel from all three tiers of government worked for five days to clear the road in preparation for the upcoming elections.

According to Ram Prasad Paudel, the Chief Election Officer of Manang, movement was completely halted due to heavy snowfall around Dharamsala and Jharana along the route to Narphabhumi. After the road was blocked, a joint team of the Nepali Army, Armed Police Force, and Nepal Police was deployed and managed to clear the snow after three days of continuous effort.

Even though the road is open, the villagers have not returned to the village. Paudel shared that most voters who descended to Kathmandu and Pokhara to escape the cold are in the process of returning. 'Currently, only yak herders and some elderly people are in the village. We understand that voters residing in Kathmandu are expected to return around the 14th-15th,' he said. 'Since the villagers are not here, we are also unable to go. Our team is preparing to leave once the villagers return.'

He stated that election materials will reach other areas within a few days. After training the polling officers and assistant staff, the ballot papers and ballot boxes will be sent to the respective polling centers under security cover, he added.

Chief District Officer Navaraj Paudyal says that apart from the weather, there are no other challenges in Manang. 'The difficulty for us is the weather. Apart from natural problems, there are no man-made issues here,' he said. 'We are ready for the election. The election will not be stopped for any other reason.' Narphabhumi has 488 voters. Narphabhumi Rural Municipality has 5 wards.

Konjo Tenjing Lama, Chairman of Narphabhumi, said that efforts are underway to bring the voters back to the village. 'Most of them are in Kathmandu. We have asked them to return to the village from the 14th to the 17th,' Lama said. 'About 250 people are expected to return. We have asked them to return, even if it's just one person per family, if not the whole family. They are preparing to return.'

There are only three candidates in Manang. Tek Bahadur Gurung is the candidate from the Nepali Congress, Yashoda Subedi from the Communist Party of Nepal, and Ram Bahadur Ghale from the Mongol National Organization. Previously, CPN-UML and RPP had also filed nominations, but they withdrew their candidacies in support of the Congress.