DHAKA: A disgruntled former Maoist who rose to fame in Nepal after slapping the country’s leading leftwing politician announced plans on Thursday to fight him in upcoming elections.

Padam Kunwar, a 26-year-old chef who assaulted Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal last November, registered himself as an independent candidate in the leader’s constituency in the capital Kathmandu.

‘I have fielded my candidacy not to defeat anyone but to win the election,’ Kunwar, who was a member of the Maoist party until June last year, told reporters on Thursday, reports The Straits Times.

More than 100 parties, including three major ones, the centrist Unified Marxist-Leninist, the Nepali Congress and the radical Maoists, have fielded candidates for 240 seats in the polls expected on November 19.

BDST: 2018 HRS, OCT 03, 2013
RoR/RIS