The Election Commission on Tuesday instructed the security agencies to make credible security arrangements for candidacy filing on Thursday for the second phase of federal and provincial elections.

The election body has scheduled November 2 for nomination of candidates for the second phase of first-past-the-post elections set to be held on December 7. Nominations for the first-phase vote on November 26 have been over in the upper reaches. During a meeting of the High-level Security Committee held at the EC office on Tuesday, Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhee Prasad Yadav asked the forces to ensure proper security for nomination of candidates in 128 federal parliamentary and 256 provincial assembly seats, the EC said in a statement.

Besides the commissioners, Home Secretary Mohan Krishna Sapkota, Defence Secretary Shreedhar Sapkota and the chiefs of four security agencies attended the meeting chaired by Election Commissioner Sudhir Shah.

Officials from the two ministries told the meeting that necessary arrangements are in place to ensure free and fair elections.