Polling for Nepal elections ends

Kathmandu  : Voting for the second Constituent Assembly elections in Nepal concluded at 5 p.m. Tuesday, with initial figures showing a turnout of over 60 percent.

Citing Election Commission updates, media reports said around 65 percent vote had been cast, while around a dozen people have been injured in inter-party clashes and disputes.

“Election has largely been peaceful here,??? Mohan Lal G.C., an election officer deputed at Jawalakhel, Lalitpur-3 polling station, was quoted as saying during a field observation of the booths.

“I found that people were very enthusiastic to cast their vote. Our turnout here in this polling station was more than 70 percent,??? he said.

Meanwhile, it has been learnt that the vote count of accessible areas will begin from Tuesday evening.

During the course of the day’s polling, a bomb went off in the capital near a polling station, in which three children were injured. They were admitted to Bir Hospital, Xinhua reported.

In another incident, a voting centre at Chamunda Hadakot in Dailekh constituency No.2 was attacked by cadres of the poll-opposing Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M), who then took away the ballot box.

Police fired in the air to bring the situation under control, Nepalnews.com reported. Voting at the centre was stalled after the incident.

A total of 12,147,865 voters registered with the Election Commission were eligible to cast their votes.

Nepal is holding its second Constituent Assembly elections after the first assembly elected in 2008 failed to promulgate the much-awaited constitution that will institutionalise the republic established in 2008 after the 240-year long monarchy was toppled.