For security activities related to the House of Representatives election scheduled to be held on March 5, the Ministry of Finance has ensured a total of Rs 12.38 billion for the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Defense. The Ministry of Finance has agreed to allocate a total of Rs 19.11 billion, which includes Rs 10.39 billion for the Ministry of Home Affairs, Rs 1.99 billion for the Ministry of Defense, and Rs 6.73 billion for the Election Commission.

According to Anand Kafle, spokesperson for the Ministry of Home Affairs, the funds received will be used to carry out election security activities with an emphasis on maximum frugality. “The Ministry of Finance has said that expenses should be minimized and that additional budget will be ensured if required based on necessity,” he said.

With 48 days remaining until the election, the government has deployed all three security agencies – the Nepal Army, Nepal Police, and Armed Police Force – for security management. Under this arrangement, Nepal Police will handle first-tier security, the Armed Police Force will provide second-tier security, and the Nepal Army will be responsible for third-tier security.

The procurement process for 377 vehicles required by security agencies for the election has already moved forward. India has agreed to provide around 500 vehicles as a grant for election purposes. Of these, 106 vehicles are expected to arrive in Nepal within the next week, according to sources at the Ministry of Home Affairs. “So far, it is confirmed that 106 vehicles will arrive from India; it cannot be determined at this stage how many more will come,” Kafle said.

According to Nepal Police, the election will require 174 trucks, 2,000 pickup vehicles, and 3,000 motorcycles. Among these, the procurement process for 200 large and small vehicles is underway. Nepal Police Information Officer, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gopal Chandra Bhattarai, said, “We already have some vehicles in stock, procurement is ongoing, and we believe the vehicles added through grants will meet the requirement.” He added that vehicles would be rented if there is still a shortfall.

Security agencies deployed

All three security agencies have been mobilized with the election in focus. The Ministry of Home Affairs has stated that all necessary security preparations have been completed to ensure the election is conducted in a fair, secure, and fear-free manner. According to the ministry, all tasks related to election security have been intensified.

According to Home Ministry spokesperson Kafle, election-focused security consultations that began on 25 November 2025 have been completed in all seven provinces. The one-and-a-half-month-long provincial-level security meetings concluded in Madhesh Province on 14 January 2026. “In all provinces, security meetings were held with participation from the federal level by the Home Minister, from the provincial level by the Chief Minister and Minister for Internal Affairs, and from district-level security committees by Chief District Officers and representatives of Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, and the Nepal Army,” he said. “All factors that could influence the election have been analyzed.”

A crowd of applicants filling out forms to be recruited as election police at the sports ground in front of the District Police Office, Malangwa-2, Sarlahi.
Photo: Bishwanath Thakur / RSS

The government has implemented an Integrated Security Plan for the election. Under this plan, parties and groups that could affect the election have been identified. Possible clashes between the Gen-Z groups and both new and old political parties have been viewed as challenges. “In addition, groups calling for election boycotts are also considered a challenge,” Kafle said. “Under the integrated security plan, the activities of all such groups and political parties will be closely monitored.”

Security agencies are actively engaged in tasks such as recruiting required police personnel for the election, arranging vehicles, recovering weapons looted in the past, and bringing absconding prisoners back under the legal system. Nepal Police has reported that 745 weapons looted during the Gen-Z revolt have been recovered. According to data from the Department of Prison Management, 10,077 out of 14,559 absconding prisoners had returned to prison as of Friday. Similarly, Nepal Police claims that 70 percent of escaped prisoners have already been arrested.

Preparation to recruit 150,000 election police

In addition to the three security agencies, recruitment of “election police” is proceeding rapidly for the House of Representatives election. According to Police Headquarters, Nepal Police has received authorization to recruit 133,980 election police personnel for election purposes. Similarly, the Armed Police Force has received approval to recruit 15,110 election police personnel.

Nepal Police stated that since the recruitment process began on 9 January, a total of 172,000 applications have been received. Applications have met the required numbers in 41 districts.
“In 36 districts, the election police application process has not yet been completed as per the announced demand,” SSP Bhattarai said. “An additional two days have been granted in those districts to complete the application process.”

There is a plan to provide 10 days of training to the recruited election police. After that, they will be deployed alongside regular police for patrols and intelligence gathering, SSP Bhattarai said.

According to Armed Police Force Spokesperson, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Manish Thapa, a total of 17,035 applications for election police positions have been received so far across all 77 districts.