Home Ministry officials say that this decision was taken because campaigning while standing on a 'route top vehicle' could pose a risk to the candidate himself.
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The Central Security Committee meeting held at the Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday decided to ban candidates from using 'rooftop' vehicles.
The ministry's information officer Rama Acharya Subedi said that the use of such vehicles has been banned for the entire election. 'This decision has been taken keeping in mind the security sensitivity,' she told Kantipur.
Former Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor and senior leader of the National Independent Party (NISP) Balendra Shah, President Ravi Lamichhane and other leaders have been using such vehicles since the candidacy registration for the House of Representatives elections scheduled for February 21. Balendra had used such vehicles most of the time on his journeys from east to west.
However, the security agencies had concluded that the use of such vehicles could be challenging from a security perspective and had proposed a ban in the security committee meeting. Home Ministry officials say that this decision was taken considering that campaigning in 'route top vehicles' could pose a risk to the candidate himself.
Former DIG of Nepal Police Hemanta Malla Thakuri also says that this decision could have been considered right if it had been made on the advice of the security agencies in the past. ‘In the past, there have been incidents of attacks abroad when people got out of such vehicles, and since the person concerned is clearly visible there, it is easy to target someone with bad intentions,’ he said, who is also the former head of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB). ‘When you are inside the vehicle, you cannot tell who is sitting where, and it is also easy for the security personnel to keep an eye on you at all times.’
According to security-related officers, the briefing meeting also included a situation where the party that wants to disrupt the election may provoke the situation by throwing stones at the candidates who are walking in such a way. The same meeting also decided to mobilize additional security personnel in Jhapa, Dolakha and Ramechhap based on security sensitivity. The meeting of the Central Security Committee chaired by Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal was attended by Police Chief Dan Bahadur Karki, Armed Police Chief Raju Aryal, National Investigation Department Chief Tekendra Karki and other high-ranking military officers.
On the same occasion, Home Minister Aryal, through 'Zoom', took information about the implementation of the provincial and district-level security strategy and election preparations from the Chief Secretaries (Province Command Post Chiefs) of all 7 provinces and the Chief District Officers of all 77 districts, including the District Security Committee officials. Purushottam Khatri, the Home Minister's Press Coordinator, informed that a presentation was also made in the meeting by the District Security Committee officials, who will be the Provincial Chief Secretary and the PDO Coordinator.
