Voting to take place on December 7

The Nepali Congress (NC) on Monday blamed sections of the Maoists for bomb attacks that rocked the last phase of the landmark election process. Gagan Thapa, a senior NC leader, came under a bomb attack on Monday, even as parties reaffirmed their commitment to go ahead with the December 7 polls.

“I went to the hospital to see Gagan Thapa after the attack. The doctors attended to him and sent him home. But some of his colleagues are under observation,” Prakash Sharan Mahat, former Foreign Minister and Nepali Congress leader, told The Hindu on the phone from Kathmandu.

We suspect a part of the Maoists are carrying out these attacks with the hope of scuttling the democratic process, but they will not succeed,” he added.

Mr. Thapa, the former Health Minister, is the NC’s candidate from Kathmandu 4 constituency.

In recent weeks, several meetings and rallies, including those by former Prime Ministers Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and K.P. Sharma Oli, met with bomb attacks.

Heinous act

“We condemn the attack on Gagan Thapa as a heinous act by sections of Nepali politics who obviously hope to derail the political process,” said Upendra Yadav, leader of Federal Socialist Forum Nepal.

The first phase of the election took place on November 26 to elect a federal and seven provincial assemblies under the constitutional system introduced in September 2015. The first phase witnessed 65% of voting for 37 parliamentary and 74 provincial legislature.