Polls fever up in Baitadi

The polls campaign in Baitadi district in the far western region has gained momentum with the party leaders leaving district headquarters and the national capital to return to their villages.

The district has in total 23 CA election candidates in two constituencies, including four independent candidates. The candidates and their supporters have intensified their election publicity campaigns through door-to-door campaigns.

Observers see fierce competition among the top three parties - Nepali Congress, UML and the Maoists. So far, no incidents of attack, clash or threats by cadres of one party against others have been reported.

In Constituency 1, Narendra Bam of Nepali Congress, Damodar Bhandari of UML, Narendra Kunwar of Maoists and Ganesh Sing Bista of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) are contesting.

Dev Singh Mahara of Rastriya Janamorcha, Haridatta Panta of Janamorcha Nepal and Ghanashyam Bhatta of Nepali Congress have fielded their candidature as independent candidates.

Constituency no 2 also see triangular competition among Binaya Dhoj of NC,
Maya Bhatta of UML and Renu Chand of Maoists. Independent candidate Shiva Raj Bhatta who was once a NC member, Uttam Chand of RPP and Chandriram Lohar could make some influence in the polls fray.

The district has 171,212 voters including 80,149 in constituency no 1 and 91,063 in constituency no 2. nepalnews.com ia Mar 27 08