JAJARKOT, Nov 29: Three days after the first phase of parliamentary and provincial elections, ballot boxes from various parts of Jajarkot have finally arrived at the district headquarters Khalanga on Tuesday evening. Difficult topography and lack of road connectivity posed serious problem while transporting the ballot boxes.
The election officers headed toward the district headquarters with the ballot boxes from all polling centers of 85 polling stations on Sunday after completion of the polls. Unfortunately, it took such a long time for some of them to arrive at the district headquarters as they had to walk all along the way due to lack of motorable roads, informed Dev Kumar Giri, chief election officer of the district. He further informed that some of the polling stations were really far from the district headquarters which made it hard for the election officers to return on time.
Two days to collect ballot boxes in upper Gorkha
According to the details provided by the District Election Office, ballot boxes of Bheri Municipality were the first to reached Khalanga while the ballot boxes of Warekot Rural Municipality and Nalgad Municipality arrived at last. Altogether 348 ballot boxes from 116 polling centers of the district have been kept at the office of the Chief Election Officer in the district court while some have been kept at an old-age home based in Thanti Bazaar of Bheri Municipality.
Election officers and candidates of various political parties with the help of security personnel are ensuring the safety of the ballot boxes. Cadres of Nepali Congress, as well as the left alliance, are planning to stay awake all night by shifting their duties until December 7. Though they are going to have a hectic schedule for the next few days, they are determined to do it with full dedication.
Umananda KC, a cadre of NC, informed that he has urged all the cadres to be alert especially during the night time. According to him, the enthusiasm and excitement that the voters and locals had, in the beginning, is slowly waning out due to the delayed vote counting.
