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Narendra Sah Kalwar of RSP has won a landslide victory in Sarlahi Constituency No. 3. He secured 46,890 votes in the House of Representatives election.

Sah defeated candidate of Communist Party Narayan Kaji Shrestha by 33,552 votes. Shrestha received 13,338 votes in the latest results.

NC candidate Binod Kumar Khanal secured 6,624 votes, while UML’s Hari Prasad Upreti got 5,776 votes. With this result, the party has won all four constituencies in Sarlahi.

Rajan Gautam of the RSP has been elected in Constituency No. 1 of Nawalpur district. He defeated NC leader Balkrishna Ghimire. Gautam received 50,945 votes, while Ghimire received 16,293 votes.

Gautam defeated Ghimire by a margin of 34,652 votes. Ghimire, who was defeated by Gautam, is the Congress District Vice President. Gautam had also contested in this constituency in 2023. At that time, he came third. UML came third in this constituency in this election.

Bhagirath Sapkota of the UML received 9,139 votes. Nawalpur 1 is a constituency that Congress leader Dr. Shashank Koirala has been winning continuously since 2007. Previously, Manish Khanal of the RSP won Nawalpur 2.

In Jhapa Constituency No. 2, Indira Rana Magar of the RSP is leading with 30,035 votes, making her victory almost certain.

Whereas, Devraj Ghimire of the UML, trails with 5,514 votes. Keshav Kumar Bhandari of the Shram Sanskriti Party is third with 3,750 votes, followed by Sarita Prasai of the Nepali Congress with 2,668 votes.

Other candidates include Dharmashila Chapagain of the NCP with 612 votes and Swagat Nepal of the RPP with 1,782 votes. Out of 147,522 registered voters, 96,436 have cast their votes.

The Election Commission of Nepal has started collecting ballot boxes following the conclusion of the House of Representatives elections. 

An official at the EC said that ballot boxes from Sankhuwasabha, Solukhumbu, Gorkha, West Rukum, Manang, Bajura and Humla will reach counting centers by Friday morning.

Ballot boxes from remote districts including Taplejung, Rasuwa, Dolakha, Bajhang and East Rukum are being transported today. Authorities said helicopters are being used to move ballot boxes from 15 remote districts.

According to the EC, the elections held today saw around 60 percent voter turnout. The percentage could rise slightly as voting is still continuing in some locations.

The Election Commission of Nepal has said that initial voter turnout in the parliamentary elections held on Thursday was around 60 percent. 

Officials said that this is an early estimate and final figures will be come later.

Acting Chief Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari said the commission is still collecting data from across the country.

A total of 18. 9 million voters were registered for the elections.

Among them were 9.66 million were male voters, 9.24 million female voters, and 200 voters listed as others.

Not a single voter had cast a ballot by noon at the polling station at Shahid Smriti Basic School in Manebhanjyang-7, Okhaldhunga District. The polling center, which has 701 registered voters, remained empty during the House of Representatives election.

Locals said they decided to boycott the vote after the government failed to move forward with plans to build a provincial hospital in Harkpur, Toksel. Residents had earlier provided about 167 ropanis of land for the project but say construction has not begun.

Chief Election Officer Hari Prasad Koirala said election staff were present at the center but no voters had arrived. Officials said if no voters turn up by the closing time, the staff deployed as temporary voters will cast ballots to formally close the polling process.

Voting has been completed at the temporary polling station inside Jhapa Prison in Bhadrapur with 100 percent turnout. Election officials said 108 people, including 107 prisoners and the prison chief, cast their votes under the proportional representation system.

According to the District Election Office Jhapa, all 107 prisoners listed in the final voter roll participated in the voting process. Prison chief Rewant Bhattarai confirmed that the ballot box had been sealed after voting.

About 25 percent of voters had cast ballots by 10:30am in Jhapa Constituency No 5 during the House of Representatives election. The Returning Officer’s office said voting has been peaceful so far.

The constituency has drawn major attention due to a high-profile contest involving former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and senior leader of the Rastriya Swatantra Party Balen Shah. 

Election officials said a total of 163,379 voters are registered in the constituency.

Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari exercised his voting rights at Milan Vidya Mandir located in Ward No. 29 of Kathmandu Constituency-1. 

Similarly, Election Commissioner Dr Janaki Kumari Tuladhar cast her vote at the Mahendra Secondary School Voting Center in Sundar Bazaar Municipality-2, Lamjung, while another Election Commissioner Sagun Shamsher JBR participated in the voting process at the Dhapasi Lower Secondary School Voting Center in Tokha Municipality-4.

The Election Commission (EC) has urged all voters to participate actively and enthusiastically in the voting scheduled for Thursday, March 5, under the House of Representatives (HoR) elections.

At a press meet organized at the EC today on the eve of the voting, Officiating Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari said that all preparations for conducting the elections have been completed. 

He called on all eligible citizens to take part in the elections as a constitutional exercise to renew democratic legitimacy and cast their invaluable votes.

A total of 65 political parties are contesting under the first-past-the-post (direct) electoral system with 61 election symbols. 

Under the direct system, there are 3,017 male candidates and 388 female candidates. One candidate from the other gender is also contesting, bringing the total number of candidates under this system to 3,406.

Similarly, under the proportional representation (PR) electoral system, 1,363 male and 1,772 female candidates who make a total of 3,135 candidates are in the race. Voting under the direct electoral system is being held for 165 constituencies, while 110 seats are allocated under the PR system.

In this election, the total number of voters is 10,893,689. Of them, 9,663,358 are male voters, 1,230,131 are female voters, and 200 belong to other genders. According to the EC, there are 186,142 temporary voters.

Nationwide, there are 10,967 polling stations and 23,112 polling centers. A total of 143 temporary polling stations have been established.

For election security, 79,727 personnel from the Nepal Army, 75,797 from Nepal Police, 34,567 from the Armed Police Force, 1,921 from the National Investigation Department, and 149,000 temporary election police have been mobilized. Altogether, 215,000 employees have been deployed.

The EC has printed a total of 42,251,200 ballot papers for both electoral systems. Additionally, 39 national organizations and four international organizations have been permitted to observe the elections.

Yeti Airlines has planned to cancel all flights scheduled for the House of Representatives election scheduled for 5 March.

The company has issued a notice stating that there won’t be any flights on that day. Though the Election Commission has decided to continue domestic flights this time and other flights can operate the service if they want.

According to Yeti Airlines, flights will be regular from 6 March. Shuttle bus facilities will be available for air passengers in Kathmandu.

The Election Commission (EC) has directed the Election Code of Conducts Monitoring Officers to effectively implement the code of conduct until the voting centres are closed from today. 

The House of Representatives (HoR) election is scheduled to take place on March 5.

The EC has assigned the Assistant Chief District Officer and Chief of the District Treasury Office as the election code of conduct monitoring officers with specific responsibility. 

The EC has directed the concerned officials to effectively implement the code of conduct as per the provisions stated in the Election Code of Conducts, 2082 BS.

As per the election code of conduct, the political parties and candidates have been barred from being engaged in election publicity campaigns since last midnight. 

With the beginning of the silence period for the March 5 election to the House of Representatives, the election publicity is banned.

The silence period provides time for the voters to decide their voting for the favourable candidates. 

The election publicity and silence period are also effective on social networking sites. 

The Election Commission (EC) has urged the Ministry of Home Affairs to take necessary measures to prevent any prohibited activities during the election period.

It has requested immediate action in accordance with existing laws if such activities are detected, along with a report to the Commission. 

In a press release, the Commission instructed the Ministry of Home Affairs to inform all Chief District Officers and security agencies to strictly adhere to the election code of conduct during the campaign prohibition period, which begins at 12:00 Midnight on March 4. 

The District Code of Conduct Monitoring Committee is tasked with deploying designated personnel and mechanisms to address violations of Section 24 of the Election (Offense and Punishment) Act, 2073, as well as Sections 17 and 18 of the Election Code of Conduct, 2082, and to report any actions taken. 

Additionally, the Commission has called for a ban on the sale, distribution, and consumption of intoxicants starting seven days before the voting date until the final election results are announced. "On voting day, all public and private vehicles, with the exception of those used for essential services (such as ambulances, fire trucks, hearses, blood transfusion service vehicles, security agency vehicles, electricity repair, drinking water and sewage repair vehicles, and telecommunication service maintenance vehicles), as well as vehicles from diplomatic missions and those with special passes for election day, will be prohibited from operating from 12:00 Midnight on March 4 until voting concludes on March 5," the Commission said.

Furthermore, the Commission clarified that arrangements will be made for international and domestic flights to continue operating as normal on voting day, allowing passengers with tickets for these flights to use vehicles provided by private parties or their respective airlines to travel from the airport to their homes or hotels.

The Election Commission (EC) has appealed to one and all not to misuse technology in a way it jeopardizes election fairness and integrity. 

EC drew attention of all sides not to disseminate fake information on social networks, but to extend cooperation in creating a clean information atmosphere for holding elections successfully.

Officiating Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari urged users of mass media and content creators to avoid posting the contents generated by artificial intelligence that intend to fuel confusion and illusion. It is time to make the election a dignified exercise. 

The media houses are also urged not to make poll surveys.  

Such poll surveys disillusions voters, affecting their voting rights proposed by Election Code of Conduct, 2082. It disheartens candidates and unsettles the competitive atmosphere. So such practices should not be continued, EC added.

Irrespective of the convenience caused by the technology, its misuse jeopardizes election integrity, EC stressed. It is everyone's responsibility to adhere fully to the election code of conduct.

The Election Commission (EC) has reported that its Central Election Code of Conduct Monitoring Committee received 66 complaints related to violations of the election code of conduct so far. It has sought clarifications from the concerned political parties, organizations, media outlets and individuals. Of these, 32 responses have already been received.

According to EC Legal Officer Mohan Raj Joshi, clarifications were demanded from political parties, election candidates, government and non-government organizations, as well as media houses and journalists. In the case of registered media outlets and journalists, the EC sought responses through the Press Council Nepal.

The complaints of code of conduct violations have also been registered at the district level. These cases are currently under investigation and are being processed for necessary action.

To ensure effective monitoring and enforcement of the code of conduct, assistant chief district officers in all 77 districts have been assigned to oversee non-financial matters. Financial aspects are being monitored by the chief district treasury controllers and treasury controllers, in accordance with Clause 32 of the Election Code of Conduct.

Joshi added that stakeholders at the district level have expressed their commitment to ensuring the effective implementation of the election code of conduct.

The Election Commission has introduced the 'Election Campaign Bank Account Operation and Management Procedures, 2082' to bring transparency in the expenses made by political parties and candidates contesting the elections. 

Accordingly, the campaign expenses of political parties and candidates during the general election have to be linked to the banking system.

The procedure has been enforced in accordance with Sections 24 and 50 of the Election Commission Act, 2073, Section 16 of the Election Code of Conduct, 2082, and the directive issued by Nepal Rastra Bank, the central bank regulator.

According to the Commission, all political parties registered with the Commission and standing for the proportional representation (PR) and first past the post (FPTP) electoral system, candidates representing those parties and independent candidates will have to make all financial support and donations received and spent for campaigning through this special bank account. 

The arrangement has been made to discourage cash-based transactions and keep clear records of all income and expenses.

According to the procedure, political parties are required to obtain a recommendation from the Election Commission Secretariat to open a bank account for election campaigning, while in the case of candidates, a recommendation is required from the election office of the concerned district. 

Accounts can be opened in designated banks and financial institutions only on the basis of the recommendation. 

Provisions related to account operation, transaction limits, process for submitting details and monitoring have also been included in the procedure.

The Commission believes that transactions through the banking system will facilitate identification of sources, tracking of expenses and subsequent audits.