Bajura and Bajhang are often troubled by unrest during elections, so voters here are worried about whether they will be able to vote in a free and fair manner in this election as well. These two districts in the far west have been plagued by incidents of rigging, booth capture, fake votes, beatings and even murder in past elections.

Bir Bahadur Katuwal, former head of Badimalika Campus, says that he has had past experience of party workers occupying booths at polling stations in Bajura, wherever the party has a majority. “When I reached the polling station in the 2079 election, someone else had already cast my vote,” said Katuwal, who is currently teaching at the same campus. “In Bajura, there is a tendency to cast someone else’s vote, to cast the vote of the disabled, to cast almost all the votes of absent voters, to engage in clashes and rigging, and to collude with employees.”

He says that even conscious voters like himself are monitored and if someone else casts their vote, it is easy to guess what the situation of the general public will be like. ‘There is a history of activists of both the main parties in Bajura, UML and Congress, being active in occupying booths in their respective places,’ said Katuwal. ‘This time, everyone will be able to vote voluntarily or not.’

Siddhadevi Singh, 47, of Jayaprithi Municipality-1, says that she has not been able to cast her vote in any of the elections held since she became of voting age. ‘Eight elections have been held in the village since she got married, but I have not been able to cast my vote in any of the elections,’ says the woman, who studied up to class 6 and uses social media including Facebook not only to read but also to read. ‘They come to call me at my house to tell me that I should go and vote. They form a queue. When you vote, you spoil it, they snatch the ballot papers saying that we will cast it, others cast the votes, they only put black ink on their nails.’

Dalli Devi Singh, a voter from Jayaprithi Municipality-1 in Bajhang, complains that she was not able to cast her vote of her own free will in the election. ‘By the time she reached the polling station, others had already cast their votes,’ she said. ‘In previous elections, others snatched your votes because you didn’t know how to vote, it always happens like that.’

The security agencies have claimed that they have planned a high security alert for the upcoming elections. Sudurpaschim Police Chief DIG Om Bahadur Rana said that Bajura and Bajhang have been placed on the high security alert list. "We are discussing increasing the number of security personnel, monitoring the polling stations with CCTV, and using drone cameras," he said. "We are also examining small management issues. We are also preparing to identify disabled voters who cannot vote themselves and have to vote through someone else in advance."

Acting Battalion Chief of the Armed Police Force Sudurpaschim Digvijay Subedi said that arrangements have been made to double the number of patrols in Bajura and Bajhang. Bajura Chief District Officer Dorendra Niraula said that preparations are being made to prevent the infamous past from repeating itself. "We are also discussing using drone cameras at polling stations. We will install CCTV cameras everywhere," said Pradya Niraula. "In addition to increasing security personnel, we are also providing special training to election workers." Incidents have occurred in every election since 2048 in Bajura.

Two youths died in Bajura during the 2079 House of Representatives election. Bajura was troubled and tense throughout the day during the voting due to incidents such as clashes, vandalism of polling stations, stone pelting, chasing of voters, and air firing by security personnel at dozens of polling stations throughout the day. The major parties claimed that 24 polling stations were occupied during the process.

On the day of the voting, Sanjeev Ayadi, a youth supported by the Congress from Triveni Municipality-6, died after being shot by the police. On the same night, Chetan Ayadi, who was also a central member of the UML-supported ANNFSU from the same municipality-7, was beaten to death by locals. It took 14 days for the counting of votes to begin.

Incidents of rigging and clashes have occurred not only in the 2079 and 2074 elections, but also in most of the previous elections. Two people, including a child, died in a clash in Budhiganga during the 2054 local elections. Tension prevailed at various polling stations in Bajura during the 2079 local elections as well. Re-voting was conducted after rigging was reported at most polling stations in Budhiganga Municipality.

Another problem in Bajura and Bajhang is the tendency to cast fake votes. In the 2074 local elections, Bajura was the district with the highest voter turnout. More than 99 percent of the votes were cast at some polling stations in Budhiganga Municipality. There are data that the same percentage of votes were cast at some other polling stations in the district.

In the 2074 elections for the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly, 80 percent of the votes were cast in Bajura. In the 2079 elections, voting was postponed after two polling stations in Surma Rural Municipality 1 and 2 were occupied and fake votes were cast. In the same election, a clash broke out between two parties at the Gurelthum polling station in Chhabispathivera 1. A policeman was injured when the police fired shots to control the clash.

In the 2079 local level elections in Bajhang, fake votes were cast at Sunipalchaur Secondary School Subeda in Jayaprithi Municipality-6, and the other side had to re-vote when the ballot box was vandalized. According to locals, some employees and police security personnel deployed at polling stations have also conspired to influence free voting.

Fake votes were also cast at the polling station in Kedarsyun Rural Municipality-2 in the 2079 elections. UML District Committee Secretary Nayan Bohara says that fake votes were cast in the names of voters who were not present after Prashant Bhandari, the election representative of UML, was taken into custody.

The public is worried that free and fair voting will not be possible in Bajura and Bajhang in the upcoming elections. According to Bajura Chief District Officer Dorendra Niraula, out of a total of 77 polling stations, 62 have been kept on the highly sensitive list, 12 on the sensitive list, and only three have been kept on the normal list. The District Security Committee, Bajhang, has said that it has prepared a security plan based on the incidents and activities that took place during the past elections in Bajhang. Out of a total of 137 polling stations in Bajhang, 85 have been listed as highly sensitive and 49 as sensitive. . In Bajhang, there are only three normal polling stations from a security perspective, says Chief District Officer Mukesh Kumar Keshari.

Chief District Officer Keshari says that the security mechanism is aware of the trend of casting fake votes and will not allow the same to happen in the upcoming elections. ‘We have carefully analyzed the security of the polling stations by looking at the past record and the current situation. We have also prepared a security strategy accordingly,’ he said, ‘No one can think of capturing a booth or casting fake votes in this election.’ He said that arrangements have been made for Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and Nepal Army teams to be deployed throughout the voting period at polling stations that are highly sensitive and take more than 30 minutes for the security team to reach.