Nepal has begun deploying thousands of army troops across the country to bolster security for the next month’s general elections – the first since last year’s deadly Gen-Z protests that toppled the K P Sharma Oli-led coalition government. A Nepal Army spokesperson said that troops have been mobilised with a view to conducting the elections in a free, fair and fearless environment. President Ramchandra Paudel had approved the government’s recommendation to deploy the Army for the House of Representatives elections scheduled for March 5.

 

Around 340,000 security personnel, including 80,000 Army personnel, will be deployed across the country for the purpose of election security. The security personnel will guard around 10,800 polling stations and 23,100 polling booths spread across 165 constituencies.