KATHMANDU: Eighty-six-year-old Sabitri Pradhan, a resident of Maru Ganesh Tole near the Basantapur Durbar area in Kathmandu, made her way to the polling center at Basantapur Dabali on Thursday afternoon despite suffering from stomach ailments.

She said she came to cast her vote to help choose leadership that would steer the country in the right direction. “It was necessary to vote, so even though I wasn’t feeling well, I came, stopping to rest nearly 20 times along the way,” she said.

According to her, she has not missed voting in any election so far. Her neighbor, 85-year-old Chanchala Raj Upadhyay, also came to exercise her franchise despite suffering from leg pain. “We can’t just sit at home saying nothing will happen. We must vote. We have to choose someone who works,” she said.

Similarly, Sabitri Kapali of Ombahal arrived at the Basantapur Dabali polling center to cast her ballot despite seasonal flu and fever. She said she voted to elect leadership that would guide the country properly and deliver justice for citizens who lost their lives during the Gen Z movement on September 8 and 9 last year.

Voting was conducted peacefully at polling centers across the Kathmandu Valley.

There are a total of 1,185,374 voters in the Valley’s three districts. Of them, 710,708 are in Kathmandu district, 269,256 in Lalitpur, and 205,010 in Bhaktapur. Among the Valley’s voters, 603,321 are women, 582,041 are men, and 12 belong to other gender categories.

Here are some photos: