Nepal was headed for a hung assembly with no party getting a clear majority in the landmark April 10 polls in which the Maoists have emerged as the single largest group.                                                                                                  

The overall Maoists' tally of seats is expected to be 218, more than double the number of their nearest rival, the Nepali Congress -- as the counting of votes for 575 seats of 601-strong Constituent Assembly was completed late Wednesday night. The remaining 26 members in the assembly will be nominated by the new Cabinet.

Under the proportionate or indirect voting system for 335 seats, the Maoists led by Prachanda received a total of 3.14 million votes or 29.28 per cent of the 10.74 million votes cast.

The Nepali Congress of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala stood second with 2.27 million or 21.14 per cent votes while CPN-UML was in third position with 2.18 million or 20.33 percent votes.

Under the direct voting for 240 seats, the Maoists won 120 seats while Nepali Congress and CPN-UML got 37 and 33 respectively.

As per the percentage of votes received by different parties under the indirect voting system, Maoists are expected to get another 98 seats, NC - 71 and CPN-UML - 68.

With this, the Maoists' number of seats will reach 218 and NC and CPN-UML will have 108 and 101 seats respectively. The Madhesi People's Rights Forum is likely to get a total of 51 seats, including 30 seats from direct voting.