Nepal: 29 dead, 11 people missing in violent clashes ahead of polls

Tension in Nepal spiked ahead of the Constituent Assembly elections, with at least 29 people injured and 11 reported missing after violent clashes across the country.

Kathmandu: Tension in Nepal spiked ahead of the Constituent Assembly elections, with at least 29 people injured and 11 reported missing after violent clashes across the country. Sixteen people were injured when suspected Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-Maoist) cadres hurled a petrol bomb into a Kathmandu-bound bus carrying 40 passengers at Makawanpur in southern Nepal early this morning.

In a separate incident, at least six CPN-UML cadres were injured and 11 reported missing when UCPN-Maoist activists attacked an election campaign team in Baitadi district of western Nepal yesterday. A total of seven activists from both parties were injured in an earlier clash at Hat in Baitadi district. Meanwhile, the Election Commission today announced that two lakh security personnel and an equal number of government employees will be deployed during the November 19 polls to provide fool-proof security. “We have arranged fool-proof security so that voters can exercise their rights in a free, fair and fearless environment,” said Election Commissioner Dolakh Bahadur Gurung. “Almost all election materials, including ballot boxes and ballot papers, have been dispatched to polling centres across Nepal and we are confident that the maximum number of voters will exercise their rights,” he said. A 33-party alliance headed by the CPN-Maoist, a breakaway faction of UCPN-M, is boycotting the crucial polls. This is Nepal’s second national election since a 10-year civil war ended in 2006. More than 100 parties, including the three major ones - the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (UCPN-M), the Nepali Congress and the Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum - have fielded candidates for the 601-seat assembly, which will draft a new Constitution. A total of 12,147,865 voters will choose candidates from 122 political parties for 240 seats under a direct voting system, while 334 members will be elected under proportionate voting. The remaining 26 members will be nominated by the government.

PTI