Nepal's poll body asks govt to step up security amidst attacks

Nepal's election commission today asked the government to provide adequate security amidst a spate of attacks on candidates and their sympathisers during the recent poll campaigns.
Former prime minister K P Oli has accused "some forces" of hatching conspiracies to assassinate the left alliance candidates, hours after a Maoist Centre candidate was attacked yesterday.
The Election Commission (EC) said in a statement that it has been left stunned by the ongoing attempts to deprive the election candidates and voters of their fundamental rights.
The EC's statement comes in the wake of violent incidents targeting election candidates and political parties' rallies.

Expressing confidence on the security plan of the government, the EC urged the administration to adopt strict measures for the security of candidates and their supporters.
It also called on all the political parties, voters and stakeholders to get involved in their poll-related activities without being discouraged by such incidents.

The EC also urged the parties to desist from any anti- election activities against the aspirations of people.
Oli's remarks came after some unidentified men hurled a bomb at Narayan Kaji Shrestha, CPN-Maoist Centre leader and the leftist alliance's candidate for Parliamentary elections in Gorkha-2. Shrestha escaped unhurt in the attack.

Nepal is organising provincial and parliamentary elections in two phases on November 26 and December 7.
The general and parliamentary elections are seen as the final step in Nepal's post-war transition to a federal democracy.
The Maoists have dominated Nepal's politics for more than 20 years after waging a decade-long insurgency against the government forces that claimed more than 16,000 lives.
The civil war in Nepal came to an end in 2006.