India-Nepal border to be sealed ahead of civic polls in Himalayan nation to avoid disruptive incidents

Mahrajganj: India’s border with Nepal will be sealed on Monday, 48 hours before the municipal polls in the neighbouring country, to prevent anti-social elements from crossing the international boundary and vitiating the election atmosphere. This was decided at a high-level meeting of a coordination committee, said VK Singh, District Magistrate, Maharajganj, here on Sunday. [caption id=“attachment_3744097” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational images. Reuters[/caption] The meeting was attended by officers of the local administration, police, border guarding force Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), army, customs, immigration and other departments of both the countries. SSB, which works under the command of the Union home ministry, guards the 1,751 kilometre long Indo-Nepal border. Uttar Pradesh shares a 599.3 kilometre long open border with Nepal touching seven districts — Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Bahraich, Sravasti, Balrampur, Sidhharthnagar and Maharajganj. Municipal elections will be held in Nepal on 28 June. Some Madhes-centric parties have opposed the elections seeking that the Constitution is amended to accommodate their demands for more representation in parliament and redrawing of provincial boundaries. The Nepal government has tabled a new Constitution amendment bill in Parliament to address the demands of the agitating Madhesis. Madhesis, mostly of Indian-origin, launched a prolonged agitation between September 2015 and February 2016 against the implementation of the new Constitution which, they felt, marginalised the ‘Terai’ community.