Sandeep Dikshit
New Delhi, November 20
Nepal reported a lower turnout than last time as it voted on Sunday for a new Parliament and provincial assemblies. As against 68 per cent in 2017, preliminary reports put the voting percentage for Sunday’s turnout at 61 per cent, said Nepal’s Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya.
India a major factor
The Oli-led alliances had launched its campaign from a place that figures in a territorial dispute with IndiaThere are also misgivings about the Agnipath recruitment scheme for the Indian ArmyAt the same time, energy pipelines from India have stabilised pricesUnlike any of its contenders, India gives unprecedented rights of movement and employment within the country to Nepali citizens
With the results slated to have geo-political implications as India, China and the US jostle for influence in the Himalayan state, there is intense international scrutiny. Representatives from 18 diplomatic missions, including India, as well as international organisations observed the elections in most constituencies. Nepal has also invited top election officials from India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South Korea and the Maldives to observe the voting.
While the people yearn for a government that lasts its full term of five years, the new dispensation in Kathmandu will have to balance its historic ties with India with promises of economic advancement offered by China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the US’ Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
The Nepali Congress, led by PM Sher Bahadur Deuba, has formed an electoral alliance with former Maoist guerrilla leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ as well as some Terai-based parties. The Deuba government had ratified the MCC pact with the US and has also worked to improve ties with India. Former PM KP Sharma Oli leads the other major alliance. Under his premiership, Nepal had signed the BRI as well as stoked the territorial dispute with India.
Analysts were predicting a hung Parliament or a slight edge for the Deuba-led alliance but the higher polling may have upset some calculations.
Of the 275 Members of Parliament, 165 will be elected through direct voting and the remaining 110 through a proportional electoral system. Out of 550 members of seven provincial assemblies, 330 will be elected directly and 220 through the proportional method. Thapaliya said all direct voting results would be announced in the next eight days and the results of proportional representation by December 8.
