Ramechhap, March 12, 2008 Wielding staves and khukris, cadres of the CPN-Maoist today attacked and injured 12 persons, including CPN-UML candidate for Ramechhap district’s constituency no. 1 Dev Shankar Poudel, during an election campaign meeting in Preeti VDC. Poudel sustained a serious head injury and his condition is critical, said the UML district working committee. UML member of interim parliament Kamal Sunuwar, UML Bagmati zonal member Angababu Lama, Chitra Bahadur Karki, Khadga Bahadur Sunuwar, Shanti Prasad Poudel, Subhas Lama and several cadres were also injured. The 21-person UML team had reached Preeti bazaar last evening after a day’s trek from Manthali. Eyewitnesses said as the UML leaders and cadres were proceeding to the meeting venue at Chyadalu, the Maoists rolled boulders down the hill slope to block their way. When they failed to stop the UML team, another group of 60 Maoist cadres armed with staves and khukuris attacked the UML team while the election meeting was underway. The injured are being treated at Office Danda. “I saw with my own eyes that the Maoists pushed boulders down the slope as the UML team was proceeding to Chyadalu,” said Preeti Bazaar resident Man Bahadur Karki. He said that when the UML team managed to reach Chyadalu, a 60-strong group of Maoist cadres unleashed a savage attack on the UML men, adding that they also snatched the UML poll manifesto copies and other documents from the team. TMDP for ceremonial prez Kathmandu, March 12, 2008 The Tarai-Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP) today made public its election manifesto, proposing that Prime Minister should be elected by the central legislature and the head of the government should be more powerful than the president. The manifesto, unveiled at the TMDP party office in Bijuli Bazaar, has proposed making the president largely ceremonial, who should be elected by both Houses at the centre and state assemblies. The party reiterated that the entire Tarai from Jhapa in the east to Kanchanpur in the west must be developed as an “autonomous region” considering its geographical similarity, cultural and linguistic proximity, similar climate and socio-economic condition and the people’s desire of self-identity and dignity. “Dividing the Madhes region into several autonomous states such as Awadh, Tharuhat, Bhojpura and Mithila will not make it free from the non-Madhesi influence,” the manifesto said, adding, the document, however, says the elected representatives of the constituent assembly from the region shall decide on the number of autonomous states. The TMDP has proposed three-tier judicial system — Supreme Court at the centre, regional courts in each autonomous prades and community justice at the local level.