Nepali Army Deployed for Election Security

The government has decided to deploy the Nepali Army along with all other security agencies from Wednesday under the Integrated Security Plan 2082 to ensure a free, fair, impartial, and fear-free environment for the upcoming House of Representatives election scheduled for March 5.

The government had earlier approved and enforced the Integrated Security Plan for the House of Representatives Election, 2082, aiming to strengthen law and order during the election period.

With just a month remaining until the election, the Nepali Army, Nepal Police, Armed Police Force (APF), and the National Investigation Department will be mobilized in an integrated manner to make security arrangements effective and robust.

As per the security plan, “temporary police” recruited specifically for the polls will also be deployed. The Nepal Police and temporary police will be responsible for security within the inner perimeter of polling stations, while the Armed Police Force will handle the second security layer in coordination with the Nepal Police and the Nepali Army.

The Nepali Army will be deployed in the outer security perimeter and assume key security responsibilities. According to the Army, personnel will be mobilized in all 165 constituencies starting Wednesday.

President Ram Chandra Poudel had approved the deployment of the Nepali Army for election security on November 27, following a recommendation from the Prime Minister and a decision of the Council of Ministers.

Army Spokesperson Brigadier General Rajaram Basnet told RSS that security bases would be established as required and joint patrols conducted based on necessity, with a focus on election security.

The Army is preparing to deploy around 80,000 personnel for the election. Basnet said troop deployment would follow the approved Integrated Security Plan 2082.

Under the plan, the Army has begun field deployment one month ahead of the election and will provide security in three phases. Its key responsibilities before and during the election include the security of ballot paper printing, transportation of ballots and ballot boxes, polling stations, counting centres, and coordination with the Nepal Police and APF to safeguard critical infrastructure such as airports and prisons.

During polling, the Nepali Army will remain in the third security layer, ensuring the safety of political parties, candidates, voters, and election personnel.

A total of 3,406 candidates are contesting in the upcoming election. The Election Commission enforced the election code of conduct from January 18.

For the election, Nepal has 18,903,689 registered voters, including 9,240,131 women, 9,663,358 men, and 200 others. Voting will take place at 23,112 polling centres nationwide.

The Nepal Police will deploy 77,000 personnel for election. As the existing force was deemed insufficient, 133,000 temporary police have been recruited. Constituencies have been classified as normal, sensitive, and highly sensitive, and security arrangements have been made accordingly.

Of the total polling locations, 2,845 have been categorized as normal, 4,442 as sensitive, and 3,680 as highly sensitive, police said, adding that regular patrols and security reinforcement have already been completed.

The Armed Police Force will deploy 49,686 personnel, including 34,576 APF members and 15,110 temporary police. The APF said it has adopted a high-alert posture and arranged deployment in a manner that ensures personnel can reach any incident site within 10 minutes to prevent untoward incidents during the election. -- RSS