The ruling CPN (Maoist Centre) is busy preparing directives, working procedure, code of conduct and the election manifesto, besides setting the criteria for selecting candidates for the upcoming local elections.

While the second largest party CPN-UML is busy with its Mechi-Mahakali campaign and the ruling Nepali Congress has yet to jump into preparations, the third largest party of Maoists, which suffered an unexpected loss in the second Constituent Assembly elections, is gearing up for the local polls.

Sources claimed that the Maoist Centre was for holding the local elections at all costs. The prime minister’s party has already formed a 13-member election mobilisation committee. The panel led by Dev Gurung is busy making preparations for the polls and drafting necessary documents.

In a meeting of the committee on Monday, Gurung presented the party’s Commitment Paper (election manifesto), Leelamani Pokhrel presented the criteria for candidate selection while Shakti Basnet proposed the directives for party members with regard to the polls.

Gurung said all the documents would be finalised by the party headquarters within a few days and sent to the local committees, which would finalise their candidates following the guidelines.

Pokhrel said the committee, which was meeting almost every day, would accomplish all its tasks within a few days. The party would devise a code of conduct for the candidates and the party leaders and cadres and declare district commanders for effective publicity ahead of the polls.

The party would select capable and popular figures for the purpose, rewarding their loyalty to the party. Pokhrel said the ruling Maoists would also conduct a survey to gauge their strength in some specified areas. Some local committees are said to have started declaring their candidates as in Damak, Jhapa.