Kathmandu, April 13 : Riding on a spectacular showing in the landmark elections, the Maoists were tonight set to head Nepal’s next government, with their leader Prachanda declaring that he would develop a “new relation” with India.

Having already bagged 68 out of 122 seats for which results were announced till late tonight and ahead in most of the remaining 118, the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists, which fought a decade-long insurgency to oust the monarchy, was on course to becoming the single largest party.

As results trickled in, Prachanda said Nepal will develop a “new relation” with the Indian leadership. Noting the close historical and cultural relations between the two countries, he said it is “quite important” to have very good neighbourly relations with India. “A good understanding with Delhi can create a new basis of unity with India,” he added.

Prachanda also said that Nepal will maintain equal distance both with India and China in political terms.

The original favourites — Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal-UML — were far behind and have so far won only 21 and 19 seats respectively.

Asked about the US still considering Maoists as terrorists, Prachanda told a TV channel: “Yesterday I had a very serious discussion with former US President Jimmy Carter (who was one of the poll observers), and I raised this question... It seems ridiculous to me.”