Maoists cry foul, want vote-counting stopped

Kathmandu, Nov 21: Alleging 'irregularities', the

party on Thursday demanded that the vote counting be stopped.

Voting began on Tuesday to choose the 601-member Constituent Assembly in Nepal. More than 70% of the 12 million eligible voters cast their votes.

United Communist Party of Nepal Maoists spokesman Agni Sapkota in a brief statement alleged political conspiracies and massive irregularities in the ongoing election.

Meanwhile, the initial counting had indicated that the Maoists were losing out to the Nepali Congress party and the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist).

In 2008, when the last election was held in the himalayan country, the Maoist party got the largest number of votes.

However, chief election commissioner Neel Kantha Upreti stated that vote counting was going on and it will not be stopped.

The election was largely sucessful and nonviolent, said the officials. Although a bomb blast was reported near a polling station in Katmandu, injuring three people.

Oneindia News
(With agency inputs)