5.9pc PR votes invalid in Chitwan

CHITWAN: A total of 5.90 percent votes of Proportional Representation (PR) election have been rendered invalid in Chitwan hinting at the lack of voters' education, despite being considered a literate district.

Out of 2,68,32 votes cast, 15,390 were invalid, Hari Dhakal, Chief of District Election Office informed.

Of the total 354,036 votes cast, 260,832 were cast for proportional representation in which 15,390 votes turned invalid.

In Constituency No. 1, 4,928 votes turned invalid out of 189,621 votes cast.  Similarly, 3,807 votes turned invalid out of 76,781 votes cast in Constituency No. 2. Likewise, 6,655 votes turned invalid out of 93,823 votes cast in Constituency No. 3.

With the conclusion of vote counting on Friday, CPN-UML has emerged as largest party of the District with 93,534 votes in Parliamentary Assembly and  89,440 votes in Provincial Assembly followed by the Nepali Congress' and the CPN Maoist Centre.

Meanwhile, Nepali Congress (NC), failed to register a single win under first-past-the-post (FPTP) system. However, the NC gained 81,104 votes in PR election and 76936 votes in provincial Assembly election to become the second largest party in the District.

Apart from the invalid votes, all but left alliance and democratic alliance candidates have forfeited deposits in Chitwan after failing to secure10 per cent of valid votes under a pre-requisite stated in the PR Election Act, 2074.

The District had seen 42 candidates vying for the House of Representatives and 53 for Provincial Assembly. Out of 42 HoR candidates, 20 got less than 100 votes. Similarly, out of 53 Provincial Assembly candidates, 37 failed to receive 100 votes.