Shirish B Pradhan Kathmandu, Apr 12 (PTI) Nepal’s ruling Maoists have bagged three out of six Parliamentary seats, including one from the main opposition NC’s stronghold, in the April 10 by-polls in what is seen as a boost to former rebels against whom a stir was launched by the ally CPN-UML which asked them to rein in their “violent” cadres. Unified CPN-Maoist retained Rolpa and Kaski constituencies besides registering victory in Kachanpur, which was a Nepali Congress (NC) stronghold, in the by-elections for six vacant seats of the 601-strong Constituent Assembly.

NC, CPN-UML and Madhesi People’s Rights Forum received one seat each in Morang-7, Morang-5 and Dhanusha-5 constituencies respectively. In Rolpa-2 constituency, Maoist candidate Santosh Budha Magar won the seat vacated by Prime Minister Prachanda, who had emerged victorious from two places in last year’s Constituent Assembly polls.

Another Maoist candidate Krishna Bahadur Gurung bagged Kaski1 constituency, which was vacated by Maoist minister Dev Gurung who was also elected from two places last year. In a jolt to the Nepali Congress, the opposition party was defeated by the Maoists in Kachanpur-4 constituency vacated by its leader Sher Bahadur Deuba, while in Dhanusha-5 its candidate Chandra Mohan Yadav, son of President Ram Baran Yadav, lost to CPN-UML’s Raghubir Mahaseth.