Services at a health post and the ward office of Mahadeva Rural Municipality-2 in Saptari district were disrupted on Monday for a political event. The health facility and the ward office were closed to conduct an election of Samajbadi Party Nepal.

The party had used the ward office building, which also houses the health post, as a polling station for the election of its ward coordinator.

Dipak Kumar Yadav, who was elected as chairman of the local unit from the Samajbadi Party Nepal, had barred the staff as well as service seekers from entering the building to facilitate the election of his party.

He had instructed the employees at the ward office and the health post to work from outside the building.

“I reached the ward office at around 10 am, but the chairman asked me to work from outside the office, as the party’s election was underway. So we sat by the paddy field and did our work,” said Laxmi Paikara, secretary of the ward office. “We could not refuse the chairman’s instructions.”

Chandan Kumar Rajak, the in-charge of the health post, said police personnel deployed for the election stopped health workers from entering the health post.

“We had to turn away patients because the building was closed,” Rajak said.

The District Police Office said it was unaware about the closure of the health post and the ward office.

“We just deployed police personnel for election security. We did not know that the ward office and the health post were closed for the poll,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police Tilak Bharati.

Chairman of the local unit Yadav admitted to closing the office building for the election but denied the claim that daily services were affected.

“The ward secretary and other staffers were providing services from outside the office,” Yadav claimed.