| Candidates Spend Over NPR 11.9 Million on Facebook Ads During the election period, candidates and affiliated pages spent over NPR 11.9 million on Facebook ads, according to Facebook’s Ad Library. The page “My Voice Counts” led spending, running 128 ads in 30 days for around $4,173 (NPR 613,431), mainly sharing election-related opinion polls—a potential violation of the election code of conduct. Other significant spenders included pages promoting Dr. Ajay Kranti, Kshitij Thebe, and Nain Singh Mahar, as well as multi-candidate campaign pages. Business person Binod Chaudhary ranked 20th among top Facebook ad spenders for election promotion.
Nearly Half of Voters Sit Out the Polls in Sudurpashchim Almost half of registered voters in Sudurpashchim province did not participate in the March 5 election. The Provincial Election Office reported a 50.9% turnout, with 874,177 voters casting ballots out of 1,716,660 registered. A total of 842,483 voters (49.07%) abstained. District-wise turnout was 55.4% in Kailali, 58.6% in Kanchanpur, 39.2% in Achham, 40.9% in Doti, 52.6% in Bajura, 41.1% in Bajhang, 46.8% in Baitadi, 53.8% in Darchula, and 49.2% in Dadeldhura. In Darchula, voting was disrupted after a village reportedly boycotted the election. The voter turn out was 57.8 percent in the last elections. Nepali Workers in Gulf Face Tension Amid Regional Conflict Amid rising tensions in West Asia following military actions by the US and Israel against Iran, over 1.7 million Nepali workers and their families in the Gulf are affected. Currently, 357,913 Nepalis are in Qatar, 175,000 in Kuwait, and thousands across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and other countries. Air travel disruptions have left over 1,300 Nepalis stranded at transit airports, with authorities providing temporary accommodation. Nepal’s foreign ministry and embassies have activated emergency response teams and online portals to monitor and assist citizens. No Voters Participate at Beding Polling Center in Dolakha No voters turned up to cast their votes at the Rolwaling polling center in Beding Basic School, Gaurishankar Rural Municipality–9, Dolakha. Election officials and security personnel were waiting for voters, but none of the 113 registered voters have came to vote. Many voters are in Kathmandu, but those in the village refuse to vote, saying their voices have never been heard and no candidates visited. | 
