Nepal poll panel scraps candidacy of two Maoist cadres

Nepal's Election Commission today scrapped the candidacy of two UCPN-Maoist candidates for the upcoming Constituent Assembly polls.
The two candidates - Usha Sah Fakir and Balkrishna Dhungel - had filed their nominations under the proportional representation system for the polls to be held on November 19.
Dhungel's candidacy was scrapped after the poll panel received a complaint from CPN-UML activist Ram Kumari Jhakri. She opposed Dhungel's candidacy on the ground that he had been convicted of a criminal offence.
Mohammad Zakir Hussein of UCPN-Maoist lodged a complaint against the candidacy of Fakir. He alleged that Fakir is a member of the National Muslim Commission and not qualified to be a proportional representation candidate.

According to election rules, a person must not hold any office of profit in order to become a member of the Constituent Assembly.
Meanwhile, police detained six cadres of the CPN-Maoist in eastern Taplejung district for allegedly assaulting UCPN-Maoist leaders during the election campaign.

UCPN-Maoist candidate Sanchapal Maden had filed a case with police demanding the arrest of 18 CPN-Maoist cadres. He claimed these cadres had attacked UCPN-Maoist leaders on October 24.
Police said the arrested men will be tried in court for attempted murder.
In another incident, Navin Rana, a leader of the Nepal Tarun Dal, the youth organisation of Nepali Congress, was found murdered in Dailekh district.

In a statement issued today, the Nepal Tarun Dal demanded action against those involved in the murder. It alleged that persons trying to foil the election were behind the killing.