Kathmandu, September 4
Ahead of the key polls for Nepal's new premier, Maoists have landed in a controversy as a wiretap alleged that the party had sought Rs 50 crore from China to “buy” lawmakers to get their supremo elected to the coveted post after five rounds of voting failed to produce a winner.

In a telephonic conversation, the tape of which was leaked to the media here, Unified CPN-Maoists' Foreign Department chief Krishna Bahadur Mahara is purportedly heard asking an unknown Chinese official for Rs 50 crore to buy 50 MPs, apparently from the Terai-based Madhesi parties which have been boycotting the polls.

However, Mahara, in a statement, dismissed the tape as "fabricated, misleading and fictitious." Extracts of the alleged conversation were carried by The Himalayan Times, which said that Mahara agreed to meet the Chinese official in Hong Kong after seeking Rs 50 crore.

The audio tape was also broadcast by local TV channels. "In the conversation, Mahara asks the man at the other end of the telephone speaking with a Chinese accent for financial support of 50 crore Nepalese rupees to persuade 50 lawmakers to vote for Maoist chief Prachanda during the sixth round of election for Prime Minister," another daily Republica reported.

Both Prachanda and Nepali Congress Vice-President Ramchandra Poudyal had been rejected in the previous five rounds of voting in Parliament for the post of Prime Minister. A candidate needs the support of 301 MPs in the 601-member Constituent Assembly to emerge victorious.

Earlier, CP Mainali, President of the CPN-Marxist Leninist, had also alleged that Maoists had spent Rs 5 crore to break his party.

Last month, the CPN-ML had split into two groups and four breakaway members of the party had voted for Prachanda in the previous round of voting.

Maoists, the single largest party, have 237 MPs in Parliament.

In his conversation with the Chinese official, Mahara allegedly said that Maoists had the support of 10-15 members from an outside party and needed support from 50 others, local media reported. Both the Madhesi front and CPN-UML have remained neutral during all previous five rounds of voting. — PTI