Candidates stay out of Nepali polls campaign

Dal Bahadur Rai, running for mayor of the Kathmandu suburb of Patan, was shot and wounded by a man on a motorcycle and taken to hospital, police told AFP.

Police have not identified the gunman but Maoist rebels have threatened to "take action" against people participating in the polls. Few candidates were out campaigning in the capital.

The February 8 elections are touted by King Gyananedra as the first step in restoring democracy after he seized power last February. Main political parties say they are a sham and are boycotting the polls.

In Bidur, 70km from the capital Kathmandu, no candidate was out canvassing and many electors said they would not vote in any case.

"I don't know any of the candidates but then again I am not very political," said Maila, a truck driver, who is afraid to give his last name let alone vote.

"I am not going to vote because there are threats from both sides, the army and the Maoists," he said.

Seven police and army checkpoints on the way to Bidur indicate that this is a different world from the cocoon of the capital, where one mayoral candidate prepared Monday to launch his campaign with a motorcycle rally.

"The Maoist threats got a lot of publicity but that is not the reality. I have not received any direct threats," said Kathmandu mayoral candidate Raja Ram Shreshtha of the Rashtriya Prajatantra Party, which is allied with the government.

Some 300 people were taking part in his motorcycle rally, accompanied by police patrols.