The election officials on Thursday opened the lock at the vote counting venue of Bharatpur Metropolitan City four days after it was sealed following the tearing of ballot papers by CPN (Maoist Centre) representatives.  

The counting venue was opened after the Election Commission instructed the chief election commissioner of Chitwan to send a new report mentioning the exact number of ballot papers that were torn on Sunday night after a probe committee submitted its report.

Around three dozen people including Chief Election Officer Kabi Prasad Neupane, Chief District Officer, security personnel and representatives of political parties have entered the vote counting venue.

Some CPN (Maoist Centre) cadres had allegedly torn ballot papers at around midnight on Sunday when counting was underway for ward no 19, resulting in halt of vote counting. The torn ballot papers have been secured in a sealed bag.

CPN-UML’s Devi Acharya and Maoist Centre’s Renu Dahal are vying for the post of Bharatpur mayor. Renu is daughter of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.