Kathmandu, August 2:

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala said today that he has put his 60-year-old political career at stake while giving the Armed Police Force (APF) the responsibility of security to hold the constituent assembly polls successfully.

Koirala was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the National Conference of APF Senior Officers here today. “I will always be with you and never let you be demoralised,” he said adding that he would not make the Armed Police Force the ‘scapegoat’ at any cost.

He added that he would provide essential resources and logistics for the successful conduct of the CA polls.

Addressing the same function, Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula said the nation has stepped into a new era and that would only be completed after the successful completion of constituent assembly polls. “The major challenge to conduct CA polls is lack of security,” he said adding that the conference should devise an appropriate security plan. “Your hard work would help conduct the polls in an independent, fair and fearless manner.”

Inspector General of Armed Police Force Basudev Oli said the two-day conference intended to strengthen the security situation for conducting CA polls in a peaceful manner.

The APF has already established District Election Security Bases at 72 out of 75 districts and 154 Election Area Security Bases (ASB) out of a total of 240 election constituencies

“Within two weeks we would complete the establishment of ASBs in all Tarai districts and within one and half months ASBs will be set up in all the mountain districts,” he said.

IGP Oli handed over a cheque amounting to Rs 2.5 million to the PM for the flood victims while Shanti Oli, the president of APF Wives Association, handed over a cheque of Rs 500,111 to the PM during the function.