By Niranjan Mishra

Kathmandu [Nepal], March 5 (ANI): Nepal's general elections saw a preliminary voter turnout of around 60%, mostly from the Gen Z demographic, contributing to the 'unprecedented' energy at the polls. The Election Commission attributed the successful conduct to improved voter education, cooperation from political parties, and robust security measures.

The election held in Nepal on Thursday was overall peaceful. After the Gen Z protest, the reputations of the Nepal government and the Election Commission were at stake regarding this election. After voting ended at 5 pm, the Officiating Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari thanked the people of Nepal.

Speaking to ANI, on the general elections, Joint Secretary and Spokesperson of the Nepal Election Commission, Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, says, 'We have conducted the voting process. According to primary data, the vote cast is about 60 per cent all over the country. As per the expectation, the voting process was quite safe and voters were excited to participate in the voting process.'

On being asked about the challenges for this election, Bhattarai said, 'This election was planned in special circumstances. There were some doubts among the people about the success of the selection, but due to the effective cooperation from political parties, candidates, all voters, Govt of Nepal, the private sector, the media and all sectors, we were able to successfully conclude the elections.'

After a violent Gen Z protest, the situation for this election emerged in Nepal. In this context, speaking about the role of Gen Z during the election, Bhattarai said that 'Gen Z has been very much supportive in this election. Their participation in this election process has also been positive in terms of Candidates as well as voters.'

He also said that, 'From the beginning, when the president declared the election date till now, the government of Nepal has been very supportive to the Election Commission in terms of equipment, human resources and other forms.'

Mentioning India's support in this election, he said that 'India, as a neighbouring country, has been very supportive of us in this election. They have provided vehicles and other assistance. Nepal and India are close neighbours not only in terms of geography but also in social, economic, and cultural ties.'

Sharing details about the counting process, the spokesperson said, 'All returning officers have already started submitting ballot boxes to the counting centres. The counting process will start at night in some constituencies only. First, the FPTP votes will be counted, and those results will be published. After that, we will start counting the proportional votes. This process will take some time, and we can expect the final results within 15 days.' (ANI)