After dashing from one village to another in the pouring rain for past one week, candidates of Dewathang-Gomdar constituency have hung their boots momentarily.

Three of the candidates filed their papers on expenses incurred during the campaign with the National Observer in Samdrupjongkhar yesterday.

Bhutan Kuen-Nyam Party’s Neten Zangmo campaigned till the last minute of the campaign period that ended at 9am yesterday.

Her party’s dzongkhag coordinator, Tashi Tobgay, said the two did last round of campaign in Dewathang.

“We’ve used even the last few hours,” he said. Neten Zangmo missed several days of campaign as she had to conduct meetings at various places in neighbouring dzongkhags of Trashigang, Trashiyangtse, and Pemagatshel.

The BKP president has two other contestants standing against her from Dewthang gewog: People’s Democratic Party’s Wangdi Gyeltshen and Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa’s Thinley Namgay.

PDP candidate Wangdi Gyeltshen said he continued his campaign until 8:30am yesterday. He will file his papers and complete other formalities with the National Observer today.

DNT’s candidate Thinley Namgay said that there was not much time and so did not campaign. He went to Samdrupjongkhar to file his bills of expenses incurred during the campaign period to the National Observer.

Druk Phuensum Tshogpa’s candidate will return today to his village, Yarphu in Wangphu gewog, to cast his vote.

“I’m satisfied with the campaigning that I was able to do and stopped a day before the black-out period,” he said.

He completed all the formalities that the candidates have to do before the election yesterday.

Candidates said that they have developed much more respect and appreciation for their opponents having undergone the difficult trails and conditions during the past few weeks of campaigning.

Samdrupjongkhar’s election officer Norbu Wangdi said that more than 280 polling officials reached their stations yesterday.

The opening of the envelope A for Jomotshangkha-Martshala constituency was completed last night. More than 2,000 envelopes were opened. The office of the returning officer is expected to receive some more postal ballots today.

The envelope A for the Dewathang-Gomdar constituency will be opened today.

Of the 4,405 registered postal ballot facilitation booth voters in Samdrupjongkhar, 3,459 voters turned up to vote at the four facilitation and the mobile booths on September 7-9.

Tshering Palden |  Samdrupjongkhar

Advertisement