16 days left for election: Number of candidates opening accounts in banks and financial institutions increasing

Kathmandu. KATHMANDU — The Election Commission (EC) has made it mandatory for the candidates to pay election expenses through the accounts of banks and financial institutions. The EC has made arrangements for the political parties and candidates to open separate bank accounts for spending during the elections.

As per this provision, 671 candidates have so far opened election accounts in banks and financial institutions. According to EC Spokesperson Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, out of 3,406 candidates under first-past-the-post (FPTP) category, 671 have opened bank accounts so far.

Earlier, it was not mandatory for the parties and candidates participating in the elections to spend money through their bank accounts. From this year, the provision has been made mandatory for the political parties and candidates to spend their election expenses through bank accounts.

The EC believes that election expenditure will be transparent through the banking system. The commission has made provision that candidates can spend between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 33 lakh, depending on the geography of the country. The Commission has made it clear that such provision has been made for financial discipline.

According to EC Secretary Krishna Bahadur Raut, most of the candidates from remote districts like Kalikot have not opened their bank accounts. According to the Nepal Rastra Bank, banks and financial institutions have opened their branches in all 753 local levels of the country.

As per the bill, the political parties and candidates are required to receive and spend more than Rs 25,000 from their bank accounts. The Commission had invited the chief executive officers of the banks and financial institutions on Monday and held discussions. During the meeting, Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari said that the election expenditure would be transparent through the banking system. During the discussion with the bank, he said that a provision has been made that the EC has prepared a separate directive for the purpose of spending money in the election.