Kathmandu, November 3 Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba today inquired election commissioners about preparations for the upcoming provincial and parliamentary elections slated for November 26 and December 7. PM Deuba also urged EC commissioners and chief election commissioner to ensure maximum participation of voters at a meeting held at his official residence in Baluwatar. There are 15,427,935  voters in the country. The PM asked them to make the voter education programme effective to minimise percentage of invalid votes. “Poll environment should be such that voters can cast their votes in free, fair and impartial manner,” read a statement issued by PM Deuba’s Press Coordinator Govinda Pariyar. Election Commissioner Ila Sharma told THT that PM Deuba assured all kinds of help to the poll panel to make the scheduled elections successful. “He sought to know about our preparations and assured us that the government would provide all help to hold elections,” said Sharma. She said the PM also inquired about progress on printing of separate ballot papers and difficulties, if any, to launch voter education programmes. CEC Yadav briefed the PM about polls preparation and problems the poll panel encountered after the Supreme Court’s order to ensure separate ballot papers for provincial and parliamentary first-past-the-post elections. “It was mainly due to your commitment that the local polls were held successfully and it is also because of your commitment that the provincial and parliamentary polls are going to be held. I want to extend special thanks to the EC,” reads the release issued by Pariyar. He told the PM that the EC had accelerated printing of ballot papers and had been preparing to launch voters’ education program as soon as possible. EC commissioners lauded the PM’s commitment to make the election successful. Other EC commissioners, Ishwori Prasad Paudel, Sudhir Kumar Shah, EC Secretary Begendra Sharma Paudel was also present at the meeting held at the PM’s official residence in Baluwatar.