KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 9

Dr Toshima Karki, whose candidacy from Lalitpur-3 was annulled by the Election Commission, but was reinstated following the Supreme Court order, claimed that the EC had once again warned her not ring the 'bell' during her door-to-door campaign.

"I received a phone call from Election Commission monitoring officer this morning. The person at the other end asked me not to carry our party symbol, 'bell' or ring it during the publicity campaign," Toshima told THT. She further informed that the official also said ringing the bell caused noise pollution and it was against the election code of conduct.

The election code of conduct has barred parties and cadres from carrying props such as T-shirts, bags, and caps bearing any party's election symbol. It also bars playing loud music or use of loud speakers during publicity campaigns. But, fringe parties and independent candidates have been complaining that the EC has been strict only with them as big parties are openly using their party logos against the rules.

"It seems that these rules are applicable to small parties as the so called big parties are openly conducting their election campaigns through loud speakers and displaying their election symbols through various means not acceptable to the EC," Karki said.

She also said that they had carried one small bell and had fully abided by the rule against noise pollution.

"How can I let my voters know about our election symbol without showing it," Karki fumed.

Toshima, also a medical doctor, is a House of Representative candidate for the upcoming November 20 election from Rastriya Swatantra Party. Earlier, the EC had scrapped her candidacy saying she was an elected board member of medical council, which is a position of profit. The EC's directives mentioned that anybody holding position of profit cannot contest the election.

However, Toshima had moved the SC asking it to revoke the decision as she claimed she had much earlier written a letter asking EC to clarify about her eligibility to contest the election. But the EC remained mum over her letter.

A version of this article appears in the print on November 10, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.