National
Govt to EC: Give RJP-N single election symbol
The government has urged the Election Commission to manage one out of the six election symbols proposed by the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJP-N).The government has urged the Election Commission to manage one out of the six election symbols proposed by the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJP-N).
The Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav has said he would respond to the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday after holding discussions on technical matters.
During the meeting with Nepali Congress and Maoist Centre leaders at Baluwatar on Sunday, RJP-N leaders had urged the government to provide the umbrella as their election symbol.
But after CEC Yadav ruled out the possibility of allotting them the umbrella as an election symbol, the leaders agreed to go with any one of the six symbols.
They, however, urged the EC to remove the other five symbols from the ballot paper.
Maoist Centre leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha, who was present at the meeting, said the government has urged the EC to provide one election symbol for the RJP-N and delete the other five.
Expressed fear that their votes could be disbursed due to confusion, RJP-N leaders, including Mahendra Raya Yadav, said they would only accept the proposal if the government deletes the other symbols.
Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal and NC leader Bimalendra Nidhi, who were also present at the meeting, were positive on the RJP-N demand.
According to RJP-N leader Keshav Jha, the leaders had also held talks with officials of the Janak Shikshya Samagri Kendra for publishing the ballot papers and they were positive on printing ballot papers within 15 days.
However, RJP-N’s election symbol favoured by the party leaders—palm—was also in controversy as the case filed by leader Sarita Giri was sub-judice in the court.
During the meeting, the RJP-N leaders had also urged the government to expedite support to the flood victims in the Tarai and provide them with necessary relief materials.