On the eve of the seventh run off, Maoist chief Prachanda on Monday stepped up efforts to woo smaller parties in his attempt to cobble up a majority in the parliament to become Nepal’s Prime Minister for second time.

Prachanda who has lost the race of premiership for six times in the Constituent Assembly, will try his luck on Tuesday against Nepali Congress vice-president Ram Chandra Poudyal.

The Maoist leader held hectic consultations with MPs to woo them to back his candidature.

Madhesi Front, the grouping of three Terai based political parties, is unlikely to vote for Prachanda during Tuesday’s Prime Ministerial election, though Madhesi Peoples Rights Forum led by Upendra Yadav which split from the front may opt for choosing Prachanda, changing its earlier stance of maintaining neutrality.

“We have not yet thought about casting our vote to the Maoists and it is most unlikely that the Madhesi Front will caste its vote in favour of Prachanda,” said Commerce Minister and Sadbhawana Party president Rajendra Mahato.

The Front has not yet decided to vote for any one and most probably it will remain neutral during the seventh round of voting on Tuesday, he told the news agency.

However, the front will take formal decision regarding its stance only on 7th September, he said.

During his meeting with Prachanda veteran communist leader and former general secretary of Nepal Communist Party Bishnu Bahadur Manandhar asked the Maoist not to take side with the royalists in the name of launching nationalist movement.

“How can you launch nationalist movement by joining hands with the supporters of the former monarch by weakening the popular forces?” he asked during the meeting.

In his response Prachanda said that the media has exaggerated the party’s role and portrayed it as close to the royalists, according to sources close to the veteran communist leader.

Manandhar also expressed surprise that the Maoists who are accusing Madhesi parties of preventing formation of the government under the guidance of India themselves are trying to woo the support of the Madhesi parties.

Interestingly, Prachanda did not dare to ask vote during his meeting with Manandhar, who is also the advisor of CPN-United, a left party that has five seats in the Parliament, sources close to the party said.

Political analysts said that tomorrow’s election will also not bear any result as CPN-UML, Madhesi Front and other smaller parties will remain neutral during the voting.

Even if Madhesi Peoples Rights Forum led by Upendra Yadav, which has 25 votes, supports Maoist candidate, he will be short of majority of 301 votes, analysts said.

The Maoists, who have just 236 seats in the Parliament needs another 64 seats and with the support from MPRF with its 25 seats and fringe parties allying them with just 15 more seats cannot get the magic number of 301 to form government, analysts claim.