Nationwide voting in Nepal began at 7:00 a.m. (0115 GMT) on Thursday for the election of much- awaited Constituent Assembly (CA), which will decide Nepal's future political setup and the fate of the monarchy.

Nepali Election Commission official confirmed with Xinhua that the voting has started on schedule.

According to information from the Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday, there are 20,810 polling centers in 9,793 places to hold the election simultaneously and voters entering the polling center before 5:00 p.m. (1115 GMT) on Thursday will be able to exercise their voting rights.

Nepali Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala Wednesday called on all Nepalis to exercise their franchise to vote freely from intimidation and doubts with confidence that their votes will remain secret.

In his special message address to the people on the eve of the crucial Constituent Assembly (CA) elections, Koirala said that the CA elections will open doors for Nepal to enter a new era.

Issuing a statement one day before the CA election that will decide the fate of the monarchy, King Gyanendra Wednesday urged all the eligible voters to cast their ballots and wised for the success of the elections.

In the statement issued Wednesday afternoon, Gyanendra said, " It has always been our desire to ensure that under no circumstance are the nation's existence, independence and integrity compromised and to build a prosperous and peaceful nation through a democratic polity in keeping with the verdict of the sovereign people".

"While upholding mutual harmony and unity during the elections to the Constituent Assembly being held on April 10, 2008, we call upon all adult citizens to exercise their democratic right in a free and fair environment".

There are 3,937 candidates, including 326 female party candidates, 42 independent women, 2,795 male party candidates and 774 independent male.

Some 126,000 staff and 108,000 volunteers are mobilized to manage the voting.

Some 130,000 security personnel have been mobilized including Nepal Police, Armed Police and Temporary Police, Nepali Home Ministry informed on Wednesday.

The EC Wednesday decided to reschedule the election programs for April 19 in constituency No. 1 of Surkhet district in mid- western Nepal, as the Communist Party Nepal (Unified Marxist- Leninist) (CPN-UML) candidate in the constituency Rhishi Prasad Sharma was shot dead, during a scuffle between the activists of Nepali Congress and CPN-UML on Tuesday night.

The Election to the Members of Constituent Assembly Act of Nepal provides that the EC can postpone the voting in case of a candidate's death.

(Xinhua News Agency April 10, 2008)