72 candidates withdraw nominations

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Jan. 24: At least 72 candidates across the country have withdrawn their candidacies for the House of Representatives elections scheduled for March 5.

According to Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, spokesperson for the Election Commission (EC), a total of 3,487 candidates had filed their nominations nationwide. Of them, 72 candidates withdrew their candidacies 

on Friday.

Addressing a press briefing, spokesperson Bhattarai said that cases had been filed against five candidates, one candidacy had been terminated, and four cases remained under consideration.

Meanwhile, Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has withdrawn his candidacy in support of Nepal Communist Party (NCP) candidate Lekh Nath Neupane in Gorkha-2. Similarly, in Saptari district, two candidates, Surendra Prasad Sah and Kirtinanda Chaudhary, have withdrawn their candidacies out of a total of 27 candidates.

In Morang district, six out of 118 candidates withdrew their candidacies. Election Officer Bashanta Kafle confirmed that independent candidates Durga Prasad Darlami, Tilak Ram Rajbanshi, and Ram Khatri were among those who withdrew.

In Syangja district, four candidates have stepped back from the election. They include independent candidate Manoj Nepali Darji, Tikaram Regmi of the Progressive Democratic Party, and independent candidates Ghanashyam Pandey and Dilip Shrestha.

Likewise, in Manang district, two candidates withdrew their candidacies on Friday. Gobinda Prasad Aryal, Information Officer at the Election Office, confirmed that Polden Chhopang Gurung of NCP-UML and Kubir Singh Gurung of the National Democratic Party have withdrawn. Following these withdrawals, the electoral contest in Manang will be between the Nepal Communist Party and the Mangol National Organisation.

IIPU set up

The Election Commission has also established an Information Integrity Promotion Unit (IIPU) to prevent the spread of toxic information during the election period.

EC officials stated that the unit has been introduced to curb harmful activities such as misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech.

“The newly established Information Integrity Promotion Unit has started functioning. To enhance its efficiency, the e-MonitorPlus system has been introduced with the support of UNDP since this week. In addition, capacity-building training for staff to operate the system has been completed,” spokesperson  Bhattarai said.

He further informed that six cases involving 98 instances of toxic information were received in the past week. These cases have been forwarded to the Nepal Press Council, the Cyber Bureau of Nepal Police, and the Election Code of Conduct Monitoring Committee  of the EC.

The EC has also prioritised collaboration with social media platform operators to control and regulate the spread of false information, misinformation, and hate speech on social media during the election period, spokesperson Bhattarai added.