Nepal, which went to polls amid economic and political instability, recorded a voter turnout of 32 percent in the first six hours till 1 pm on Sunday, the Election Commission said.
Barring a few sporadic incidents, the voting, which began at 7 am to elect a new House of Representatives and seven provincial assemblies, remained largely peaceful.
Nepal recorded a voter turnout of 32 percent votes till 1 pm, the Election Commission said in a press statement.
Shaligram Sharma Poudel, the spokesperson of the Election Commission, said except for a few incidents, voting is underway smoothly across the country.
He said that voter turnout was low in the morning which increased in the afternoon.
“The presence of voters was low at polling stations in the morning, perhaps due to cold weather. But now there is an enthusiastic participation of voters everywhere,” Poudel said.
More than 17.9 million eligible voters will elect a 275-member House of Representatives.
Out of a total of 275 Members of Parliament, 165 will be elected through direct voting, while the remaining 110 will be elected through a proportional electoral system.
At the same time, voters will also choose representatives to seven provincial assemblies.
Out of a total of 550 members of the provincial assemblies, 330 will be elected directly and 220 will be elected through the proportional method.
A minor explosion took place near Sharda Secondary School polling station in Dhangadhi Sub-metropolitan City in the Kailali district. However, there was no casualty or damage to property, officials said, adding that voting continued in the polling station despite the incident with just half-an-hour interruption.
Some incidents of heated arguments between party cadres were reported from 11 areas in Dhangadi, Gorkha and Dolakha districts. However, it did not affect the polling, officials said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister and Nepali Congress (NC) president Sher Bahadur Deuba cast his ballot in his home district Dadeldhura.
He voted at the Ashigram Secondary School polling centre at Ruwakhola in Ganyapdhura rural municipality-1 in the morning. Deuba had studied at this school.
Deuba has continuously won the election from Dadeldhura since 1991. He is running for the federal parliament member for the seventh time in this election, The Himalayan Times newspaper reported.
Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) chairman and former prime minister K P Sharma Oli cast his ballot at the polling centre situated in Suryabinayak Municipality in Bhaktapur district near Kathmandu.
CPN-Maoist Centre chairman and former prime minister Pushpakamal Dahal “Prachanda” cast his vote at the polling centre located at Bharatpur Municipality in Chitawan district.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)