Nepal's Maoist leader Prachanda casts doubt over poll results after big losses

Nepal’s former rebel leader alleged on Thursday national elections were rigged after he reportedly lost his seat, sparking fears of renewed political instability in the Himalayan nation struggling to recover from a decade-long civil war.

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a former prime minister better known as Prachanda, demanded a halt to vote counting following Tuesday’s elections, which were held for only the second time since the end of a decade-long civil war in 2006.

Prachanda, the country’s first post-war prime minister, finished a distant third in his Kathmandu constituency, well behind the winning Nepali Congress party candidate, state-run Nepal Television reported.

Early results showed the Maoist party, whose members relinquished arms and embraced politics after the war, trailing badly in the elections, seen as key to completing a peace process which has drifted in recent years because of a political deadlock.

“We urge the election commission to stop the counting,” Prachanda told a press conference. “We accept (the) people’s verdict but cannot accept conspiracy and poll-rigging,” he said.

The Maoist chief said ballot boxes were tampered with while being transported from polling stations to counting centres.