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The Security Bodies have classified voting stations in three groups in order to make voters and polling centers in Jhapa fear-free for upcoming elections to the House of Representatives. 

Chief District Officer Shiva Lal Gelal said 95 voting centers in the district have been classified as highly –sensitive. 

Out of 285 polling centers in the district, 147 voting centres have been identified as sensitive while 43 as normal.  

The district has 815 polling stations.  

Gelal added that Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, Nepal and Nepali Army would be mobilized to hold the March 5 elections in a fear-free environment. 

He stated that additional security personnel have been requested from the provincial police office, as the current situation demands greater security measures than in previous instances due to the heightened security sensitivity in Jhapa Constituency-5.

There are five constituencies as well as 713,537 voters in Jhapa. 

A discussion related to the election-focused security management was held at the Office of the Election Commission in Kantipath on Wednesday. 

Matters related to controlling any criminal activities that could disrupt the upcoming election and bringing such acts to legal ambit were discussed. 

In addition, the discussion emphasized on coordinating and cooperating with all concerned parties to implement a reliable security strategy to ensure a transparent and peaceful elections in a fear-free environment. 

The discussion was attended by Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal, officiating Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari, Election Commissioners Janaki Kumari Tuladhar and Sagun Shumsher JB Rana, Home Secretary Rajkumar Shrestha, Secretary of the Commission Krishna Bahadur Raut, Inspector General of Police Dan Bahadur Karki, and officials of the Election Commission.

Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai expressed Nepal's full-fledged commitment towards protecting human rights. 

He shared the commitment while presenting the national report to the 51st Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday. 

According to the Permanent Mission of Nepal to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva, Secretary Rai highlighted Nepal’s continued progress in protecting and promoting human rights, including advancing civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights and strengthening democratic institutions.

Also present on the occasion were Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Krishna Prasad Dhakal, Nepal's Ambassador to Switzerland Ram Prasad Subedi and senior officials of Nepali Mission there.

Dalit community has witnessed a meager number of candidates in the House of Representatives (HoR) elections scheduled for March 5. 

Nepali Congress (NC) has fielded its assistant general secretary Prakash Rasaili Snehi as a candidate of Dalit community from Bajhang. 

CPN-UML has presented Chakra Snehi from Dadeldhura and Bimala Biki from Bardiya-2.

Likewise, Nepali Communist Party has given tickets only to Padam Biswokarma from Syangja-2 and Man Bahadur Sunar from Kanchanpur-3. 

Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has nominated Khagendra Sunar from Banke-3. 

Padam Sundas, a leader of the Dalit movement and former ambassador, has noted that the major political parties have always treated the Dalit community as a vote bank but have consistently deprived them of political opportunities. 

He commented, “The contribution of Dalit leaders within the party is equal to that of other communities, but they do not get tickets during elections. Discrimination is being practiced while allotting tickets though Dalit holds 13 percent of total population". 

Bindu Pariyar, President of the Association for Dalit Women's Advancement of Nepal (ADWAN), opined that the democratic legacy party NC, which has repeatedly fought for change, and Nepali Communist Party and UML, which claim to struggle for the rights of marginalized, have proven to be insensitive towards Dalits. 

She noted that by not directly giving tickets to the Dalit community, their representation in Parliament is seen as meager. 

Just like the constitutional provision requiring 33 percent women in Parliament, there should also be a mandatory provision for Dalits, she argued. 

In the House of Representatives of 2022, there were 15 Dalit representatives (5.81 percent) while in the 2008 Constituent Assembly, 50 Dalits (8.32 percent) were present. 

There were 40 Dalits (6.65 percent) in the 2010 Constituent Assembly, and 20 Dalits (7.27 percent) in the House of Representatives of 2018. 

Looking at these numbers, the representation of Dalits in Parliament is seen to be decreasing consecutively. 

Out of 59 members of the National Assembly, only eight are Dalits. 

Although Article 42(1) of the Constitution has stated that socially disadvantaged individuals shall have the right to participate in state agencies based on the principle of inclusiveness, its practical implementation has not been achieved.