Bajura, November 19

Cadres of the left alliance padlocked the office of the chief returning officer in Bajura today.

The office was padlocked by cadres who were dissatisfied with the decision taken by the office to call back all its staffers, who were deployed at different polling stations of the district meeting all necessary procedure abruptly.

The alliance leaders and cadres said staffers were called back with the intention of deploying them to fulfil vested interest of someone and to capture poll booths.

Cadres of the left alliance locked staffers, including returning officer Shubhadra Sharna Gautam, inside the office for 45 minutes.

Of the 70 polling station in the district, staffers had already reported to 52 polling stations. As per sources, the Election Commission had directed the office of the chief returning officer to call back the returning officers’ teams with their logistics and deploy them through lottery.

CPN-UML central member and left alliance parliamentary election candidate Lal Bahadur Thapa warned of continuing the lock-out until the directive was taken back.

Nijamati Karmachari sangathan Chairperson Min Prasad Jaisi said they would not return as they had already set out for their duties.

Chief Returning Officer Pushpa Thapaliya admitted that they received a directive from the commission. However, he said that they could not call staffers back as they were deployed as per their qualification.

Earlier, leaders and cadres of the Nepali Congress had submitted a memorandum to the chief returning officer and chief district officer urging them to pick returning officers and other staffers for upcoming elections through lottery, on Friday.