Election campaign reaches final stage in Nepal

The election campaign for the Nov 19 election in Nepal reached a crescendo Saturday as parties are not allowed electioneering from Sunday, the Election Commission said.

From Sunday, the parties who are busy campaigning across the country will be barred from holding public meetings for another 48 hours, reported Xinhua.

"We have completed all the preparations and people will cast their votes without any disturbances," Chief Election Commissioner Neel Kantha Uprety told journalists Saturday.

The government has completed ferrying election material to all polling stations in Nepal and security personnel have been deployed across the country to maintain order.

Nepal is holding the second election after the Constituent Assembly elected in 2008 failed to deliver a constitution.

People hope that the new election will lead to a new constitution that will institutionalise the republic established in 2008 after the overthrow of the monarchy.

A 122 parties will participate and 12.6 million people will cast their votes in the Nov 19 election .

During campaigning Saturday, Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal said: "As my party played a vital role in establishing the agenda of the Constituent Assembly, we should get majority seats in new assembly for drafting a new constitution."