August 5: The Election Commission (EC) has stepped up preparations for the upcoming elections following the government's decision to hold the federal and provincial elections in a single phase on November 20.
The EC on Thursday made it clear that it was capable to hold the election on the stipulated date in a free and fair manner. EC officials had met Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on July 6 and recommended the government to hold the elections to the provincial and federal parliaments on November 20, arguing that the term of the present lawmakers will expire on December 7. The EC had made the recommendation for announcement of election date by maintaining at least 120 days as election period.    
Organizing a press conference after the announcement of the election date on Thursday, Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya said the EC would expedite the preparations for the upcoming election. According to him, the election calendar would be published immediately after Dashain.    
He thanked the government for deciding to hold the provincial and federal elections in a single phase.    
As per the EC, the number of voters will be increased by around 1 million in the upcoming election. Similarly, the process of party registration will begin as per Article 271 of the Constitution of Nepal and Section 48 of Political Parties Act, 2073.    
CEC Thapaliya said Rs 8.11 billion was spent to hold the local level elections while Rs 10 billion is estimated to be spent for the upcoming elections. -- RSS