KATHMANDU: The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) central committee election, scheduled for 9:00 AM, has been delayed because the election commission failed to timely finalize the candidate shortlist required to configure the 80 Ram-Laxman voting machines into open and inclusive clusters.

With over 400 candidates contesting for 99 committee positions and around 4,500 voters—including diaspora members using a mobile app—the voting is expected to take 15 to 20 hours.

While Rabi Lamichhane and Balen Shah have already been elected unopposed as chairman and senior leader respectively, the election for the remaining 19 office bearers will proceed in a second phase once this initial vote for the 151-member central committee is completed.