Bomb hurled at Nepal candidate

An unidentified group hurled a crude bomb at a vehicle carrying an opposition party candidate in eastern Nepal yesterday, less than two weeks before crucial general elections.Sher Dhan Rai, a former information minister and candidate of the Unified Marxist-Leninist party, was in a jeep on his way to address an election rally at a village in Bhojpur district, police inspector Git Narayan Chaudhary said. “The bomb missed its target. It exploded on the road,” Chaudhary said.The vehicle’s front windscreen was broken. “Rai wasn’t hurt, but his bodyguard was wounded in the incident,” he added.Nepal is holding its first general elections under its new constitution promulgated in September 2015.The first phase of the polls are to be held in the northern districts on November 26 while the second round -in the capital Kathmandu and the low-lying areas in the south - will take place on December 7.Deuba hits campaign trail: Prime Minister and Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba has started his campaign trail in western Nepal yesterday, local media reported.Bal Krishna Khand, NC’s central elections mobilisation committee co-ordinator, said that PM Deuba will hold discussions with security officials and bureaucrats about the law and order situation in the region, The Kathmandu Post has reported.The PM will reach Dhangadi today, where he will meet leaders and cadres of NC and other parties in the ‘democratic’ alliance and take stock of the situation.He will also hold meetings with regional security and administrative chiefs in Dhangadi before heading to his home district, Dadheldura tomorrow, according to the NC.Deuba will launch his poll campaign from Dadheldura, with several elections rallies being scheduled in the districts in the western region.