Incidents of blasts and clashes in the run-up to the second phase of local elections, to be held in Provinces 1, 5 and 7 on Wednesday, could impact voter turnout, experts have warned.

On Monday, a bomb exploded at the CPN-UML mayoral candidate Tara Subba’s house in Dharan. According to an eyewitness, two unidentified persons had hurled an improvised explosive device towards Subba’s house. On Sunday, at least seven persons were injured—two of them seriously—in an explosion at an election rally of the CPN (Maoist Centre) in Sunawal Municipality of Nawalparasi. Another blast was also reported at the residence of Khadga Phago, Nepali Congress mayoral candidate for Morang Urlabari Municipality, in the wee hours of Sunday.

“Even small incidents can instil fear among voters,” said Indra Adhikari, a conflict expert. “When incidents like blasts are perpetrated, the aim is unleashing terror among people. So what happens is the blast may be heard only in a certain area, its impact ripples across the region.”

Voter turnout in the first phase of local polls held in Province 3, 4 and 6 on May 14 was over 70 percent.

Sources at the Ministry of Home Affairs said around 350 polling centres in Province 1 have been identified as “highly sensitive” and 772 as “sensitive”. In Province 5, Rupandehi, Kapilvastu and Nawalparasi have been marked as “sensitive”. According to the Western Regional Police Office, 86 people were arrested on charge of organising anti-election activities in Tarai districts of Lumbini zone.

In Lumbini of Province 5, 346 voting stations have been categorised as “highly sensitive” and 245 as “sensitive”. There are 910 voting stations in six districts of Lumbini.

In Rolpa, also a district in Province 5, all polling stations have been marked as “highly sensitive” and more than 3,000 police personnel will be deployed during voting.

Rolpa Chief District Officer Dijan Bhattarai said nine of the 10 local units in the district have been considered sensitive due to disputes and clashes between supporters of various political parties in recent days. “At least 50 security personnel will be deployed in each voting station,” said CDO Bhattarai.  Around half a dozen clashes have occurred in Dui Kholi, Madi, Tribeni and Runtigadhi Village Councils over the past few days. There are 80 polling stations and 154 voting centres in Rolpa. The government is planning to deploy over 150,000 security personnel for June 28 polls.

“Police personnel deployed in Province 2 also have been pulled to other districts,” said a ministry source. Elections in Province 2 have been postponed until September 18.

On recent incidents of blasts, MoHA Spokesperson Deepak Kafle called them “sporadic cases”, saying they “should not be generalised”.

(With inputs from our district correspondents)

Sensitive areas

- Province 1: 350 polling stations have been identified as ‘highly sensitive’ and 772 as ‘sensitive’

- Province 5: 346 polling stations have been categorised as “highly sensitive” and 245 as “sensitive”

- Rolpa: All 80 polling stations have been categorised as ‘highly sensitive’