Nepal President poll begins; Smaller parties key players

Kathmandu, Jul 22 (PTI) - Voting for the Presidential poll in Nepal began here Monday morning, after the two main Indian-origin candidates failed to garner clear majority inlast week's poll.

Ethnic Madhesi leader and Nepali Congress candidate Ram Baran Yadav, who was widely expected to win Saturday's Presidential poll in the 594-member Constituent Assembly, fellshort of 15 votes to reach the magic figure of 298.

The smaller parties like Rashtriya Jan Morcha and Nepal Workers and Peasants Party are likely to vote in favour ofYadav, sources said.

Yadav, who was backed by the Communist Party of Nepal - Unified Marxist Leninst (C.P.N.-U.M.L.) and the Madhesi People's Rights Forum (M.P.R.F.), polled 12 votes more than Maoist candidate Ram Raja Prasad Singh, who was earlierperceived as the front-runner.

The re-polling started at 8 a.m. at the International Convention Centre with all 594 Constituent Assembly memberscasting their votes to choose between the two candidates.

Meanwhile, C.P.N.-Maoist has announced that they will not join the government if their candidate fails to get elected to the post of president. "We will sit in the opposition if Nepali Congress candidate backed byC.P.N.-U.M.L. gets elected," said Maoist leader Dev Gurung.

Nepali Congress general secretary Bimalendra Nidhi said that if N.C.-U.M.L.-M.P.R.F. alliance candidate is elected to the post of president, the same alliance will formits government.

It is upto the Maosits to decide whether want to join the government or not, he said. But all political parties should collaborate and work together for drafting a new constitution, he added. PTI SBP