The Election Commission has announced the estimated cost for the upcoming polls. The commission has projected the total cost to be Rs10 billion.

General and provincial elections have been announced for November 20.

The commission, at an interaction with editors of various media houses, briefed about the preparations for the upcoming polls.

According to Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Thapaliya, the commission is preparing to reduce the number of publicity days leading up to the day the country goes to the polls from 39 to 15.

Voters will not be able to exercise their franchise through electronic voting during the November polls since the political party leaders are unwilling to adopt the electronic voting mechanism just yet, Thapaliya said at the interaction.

According to the commission, 18.20 million voters have registered for the polls. The commission also plans to increase the number of voting centres for the November elections.