Nepal army dismisses Maoist's claim of poll-rigging

The Nepal Army on Friday dismissed the UCPN (Maoist)'s allegation of poll-rigging, calling it baseless. The UCPN (Maoist) on Wednesday said that the Nepal Army and Election Commission (EC) were involved in the poll-rigging to defeat the party in the Nov. 19 Constituent Assembly (CA) election. The statement comes a day after a probe committee of the Maoist party said the army collected and transported the ballot boxes against the party mandate. "The army was mobilized as per the Interim Constitution-2007 for conducting the Constituent Assembly in a free, fair and peaceful manner, and it accomplished its responsibility with high integrity. The NA completed its mandate with honesty and in a professional manner," the statement said. NA said that all the stakeholders including international community have appreciated the role played by the army in the election. The Maoist accusation further soured the relations between the army and Maoist party.