KATHMANDU: Vote counting for the House of Representatives (HoR) member election in Ilam Constituency-2 and the provincial assembly member election in Bajhang-1(a) is scheduled to commence today. Electoral Commission (EC) officials have confirmed that the counting will begin following an all-party meeting convened shortly in Ilam-2. After the conclusion of voting, all 149 polling stations' ballot boxes were transported to the counting location at Gautam Buddha City Hall in the district headquarters, as informed by Chief District Officer Indradev Yadav. The vote counting will commence post the all-party meeting.

In the Ilam-2 by-election, around 60 percent of the registered voters participated, resulting in 69,287 ballots cast out of 115,889 eligible voters. The competition includes 12 parties and seven independent candidates, all male. Notably, CPN-UML, CPN (Maoist Center), Nepal Pariwar Dal, and Nepal Communist Party have jointly fielded Suhang Nembang of UML as their candidate. Other prominent candidates include Dambar Bahadur Khadka from Nepali Congress (NC), Milan Kumar Yonghang Limbu from Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), and Dakendrasingh Thegim representing identity politics.

Various other candidates from smaller parties and independent backgrounds are also in the fray. The by-election was necessitated by the unfortunate passing of UML Vice Chairman Subaschandra Nembang, who was also the former Speaker of the Constituent Assembly. Similarly, in Bajhang (A), the by-election for a provincial assembly member was held due to the vacancy created by the death of Sudurpaschim Provincial Assembly member Prithvi Bahadur Singh in a road accident last year.

In Bajhang (A), only 26,180 out of 61,748 eligible voters participated in the by-election, casting their votes across 74 polling stations. Chief Election Officer Sudarshan Lamichhane provided this information, highlighting the comparatively lower turnout. The process of vote counting in both constituencies marks a crucial step in filling the vacant positions and ensuring representation for the constituents.