Kathmandu, March 31:

Chief Election Commissioner Keshav Raj Rajbhandari today reiterated that as per the wish of the King parliamentary polls would be held by mid-April, 2007.

Rajbhandari was speaking at an interaction organised by the Election Commission with the aim of holding discussions on updating voters’ list for the upcoming polls. The major parties boycotted the interaction.

“Updating the voters’ list is not the responsibility of the EC alone. In fact, it is the duty of everyone who wants to see polls held in the country.” “We had invited 150 parties, but only 37 parties attended the interaction,” spokesperson for the EC, Tejmuni Bajracharya, told journalists.

Representatives of smaller and new parties had taken part in the interaction. The number of registered voters stands at 1,51,72,000, the EC said, adding that the number might go up. The EC has said it would begin updating the voters’ list from mid-April.