Vote counting of Triyuga municipality still in limbo

By Bhotraj Rai, Udaypur, May 23: The vote counting of the Triyuga Municipality is still in limbo although final results of the other seven local levels in the district are being made.

There are 8 local levels in the district.

The vote counting has lingered in limbo as the voting in Ward no. 12 of the municipality was canceled for re-election on voting day of the nationwide local poll held on May 13.

However, the office of the chief returning officer has not issued any notice about the re-voting.

Sunita Kumari Chaudhari, a lawmaker of province 1, said that a notice was issued on the day of voting about the postponement of the voting due to the emergence of an uneasy situation on May 13.

She blamed that the returning officer started the voting very late, they took lunch hour leave in violation of the rule, and also stopped voting before the fixed time.

I myself got deprived of voting on that day, said lawmaker Chaudhari, who had filed a case at High Court in Biratnagar demanding re-election in the ward.

The returning officers stationed at the polling station of Janapremi Basic School where three polling centers were set up have been blamed for discouraging the voters in various ways.

Due to dillydallying style of the returning officers, the voters had on the day even started sloganeering against them and it also rained very heavily in the late afternoon, which led to the suspension of the voting.

Navin Bantawa Rai, a candidate for Ward Chair in the ward, said that even candidates for different posts in the ward could not vote on the voting day.

Chief returning officer, Uttam Siluwal, said that the election commission is yet to make a decision or send instructions to the district about re-election in the Ward. He said a team of the commission had conducted an on-site study.

As the voting of Ward 12 of the municipality has been controversial, the vote counting of the whole of the municipality has not begun.