CHITWAN, Aug 4: Re –polling at Bharatpur Metropolitan City’s ward no 19 kicked off Friday morning under the first phase of local level elections.

The voting commenced in six voting centers of the three polling stations at 7 am today, Chief Election Official, Kavi Prasad Neupane said.

A total of 3,797 voters are taking part in the polls with the deployment of 36 employees along with voting officials at the centers.

More than a thousand security personnel have been mobilized to maintain security, according to District Security Committee.

Chitwan’s Superintendent of Police (SP) Deepak Thapa said 461 personnel from Nepal Police and 295 from Armed Police Force (APF) have been deployed. The outer ring has been secured by the Nepal Army whereas the inner cordon is being manned by employees of the National Investigation Department (NID).

The points of entry into the ward were sealed off from 12 midnight. Chief District Officer (CDO) Narayan Prasad Bhatta ruled out any problems as the security force able to provide security to the entire district has been concentrated at a single ward.

The ballot papers in the earlier poll were torn during vote count on May 28 in ward no 19 creating disputes among the political parties. The Supreme Court (SC) on Saturday ordered the re-polling at the ward. RSS