Kathmandu, August 18

The government has added nine local levels to Province 2, where third phase of local level polls will be held on September 18.

With the said addition, the number of local levels has reached 753 in the country and 136 in Province 2. The government increased the number of local levels in Province 2 after the Supreme Court, on August 10, quashed writ petitions filed against the government’s May 22 decision to add 22 local levels in Tarai districts. The SC had said in its verdict that the government had the power to increase local levels in Province 2 where local polls were yet to be held.

Chief Secretary Rajendra Kishor Chhetri told THT that the government has issued circulars to all its agencies, including the Election Commission and the Constituency Delimitation Commission, to implement the government’s decision to add nine local levels to Province 2.

“The government has also published the notice in Nepal Gazette about the increase in local levels in Province 2,” said Chief Secretary Chhetri.

Of the nine new local levels in Province 2,  one is in Saptari, two in Rautahat, one in Parsa, one in Dhanusha, three in Sarlahi, one in Bara district.

The Election Commission said the third phase of civic polls would be held in 136 local levels.

Chair of Constituency Delimitation Commission Kamal Narayan Das said, “We had already finished delineation of constituencies when the government wrote about the increase in local levels. We are working again on those local levels.”