Tens of thousands of people left Kathmandu Valley for their home districts on Friday to vote in Sunday’s House of Representatives and provincial assembly elections.

According to the Kathmandu Valley Traffic Police Office, more than 100,000 people left the Valley on Friday itself from different exit points including Kalanki, Balkhu, Jagati and Machhapokhari. Around 10,000 public vehicles left the Valley carrying passengers.

Boarding points such as Koteshwar, Jadibuti, Lokanthali, Kalanki and Balkhu remained packed with people throughout the day. They were seen catching buses to destinations outside the Valley.

“The number of people who left on Friday is double the figure on Thursday,” said Senior Superintendent Rajendra Prasad Bhatta, spokesperson for the Valley Traffic Police Office. Traffic police data showed some 58,200 people had left the Valley on Thursday.

Various political parties offered free rides to people on buses, jeeps and micro-buses, while several others left the Valley on their own, said Bhatta.

More people are likely to travel to the districts on Saturday, he said.

As a strategy to get their support, representatives and local chapters of various political parties have arranged for buses from Kathmandu for people who want to go to their villages to cast their votes. Mainly party members and their sympathisers have taken such buses to go to their villages.

According to the Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNNTE), political parties booked around 1,500 buses for Wednesday to Saturday, to take their people from the Capital to different parts of the country.

“Mostly this Thursday, Friday and Saturday, candidates themselves have booked buses to take people to their respective constituencies for the vote,” said Bijay Bahadur Swor, president of Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs.

As the country goes for a single-phase election on Sunday, a total of 17.9 million people will vote on the day. Of them, 9.1 million are male, 8.8 million female, and 185 are others, according to the Election Commission.