SARLAHI, MARCH 7

Owing to internet dispute, the scheduled voting in the Nepali Congress' Sarlahi district conference was halted well before it started today.

As per schedule, voting was slated at 9:00am today to select a new leadership in the district. But the voting couldn't start and had to be halted till further notice after one of the factions contending in the voting process refused to comply with the mandatory election code of conduct.

'Both sides had jointly formulated the code of conduct, but as one side refused to comply with the code, voting had to be halted,' said assistant election officer Dhirendra Chaudhary.

NC's Surendra Prasad Singh and Laxman Raya have thrown their hats in the ring for the position of party district president in Sarlahi.

While Singh represents the establishment faction of the party, Raya represents the rival faction.

To cast their ballots, party cadres had lined up at Malangawa-based Public Secondary School from as early as 9:00am. But they had to return home without taking part in the vote after a notice was issued at about 1:00am informing about the deferral of the vote.

The vote will elect a new district working committee and officials. Over 3,287 voters will cast their ballot.

Meanwhile, member of Parliament Amaresh Singh accused the establishment faction of postponing today's vote.

A version of this article appears in the print on March 8, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.