Kathmandu, October 25

The Election Commission today published the names of candidates who will contest parliamentary and provincial first-past-the-post election scheduled for November 26.

The EC stated that the names of 705 candidates out of 803 who had filed their nominations were published till 7:30pm today.

Spokesperson for the Election Commission Navaraj Dhakal, however, said the number of candidates could change, as the EC was collecting data from districts.

The poll panel had asked the candidates to withdraw their nomination between 10:00am and 1:00pm today.

Several rebel candidates of major political parties — the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML and the CPN-Maoist Centre — withdrew their candidacies following stern warning from their respective parties.

Candidates had filed their nomination papers on October 22 for the first phase of provincial and parliamentary first-past-the-post elections scheduled to be held in 32 districts on November 26.