The government’s decision to postpone local level elections in Province 2 until September 18 has drawn mixed reactions in Tarai districts.

While supporters of the Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-N) described the decision to delay polls as a “positive move”, others expressed their anger at frequent postponements of polls. They even expressed doubt over polls even after the decision to delay them.

As per the new decision, voting in the second phase of local elections will be held in Province 1, 5 and 7, for which nomination filing deadline has been extended to Sunday.

According to the office of chief election officer in Mahottari, representatives of various political parties except the RJP-N have taken nomination forms from 15 election offices in the district. Chief election officer Kiran Kumar Pokharel said 11 and eight political parties took nomination forms from election offices in Bardibas and Samasi respectively.

Rameshwor Yadav, a mayoral aspirant of the Nepali Congress for Nagarain Municipality in Dhanusha, said that election deferral has saddened the voters. He, however, added that he hoped the agitating parties would participate in the third phase of elections scheduled for September 18 in Province 2.

In Sarlahi, locals said the decision to postpone elections would help avoid confrontation.

“Locals here were anxious about possible confrontation as the RJP-N had launched protests against the elections,” said Ugrakanta Jha, a civil society leader. “The decision to postpone polls has averted immediate confrontation. It will be good to hold the polls with the participation of all the parties.”

The RJP-N was yet to make an official announcement about calling off its protests.