Kathmandu, July 30 -- The Parliamentary Hearing Committee on Monday rejected Krishna Man Pradhan's nomination as an election commissioner hours after he decided to withdraw from the race.

A meeting of the committee unanimously reached the decision, saying Pradhan himself had recused himself from the hearing process. The committee, which has members from both chambers of the federal parliament, was supposed to decide on Monday whether to accept his recommendation. Its meeting originally scheduled for the morning was postponed until the evening as cross-party lawmakers sought time for internal discussions on the matter.

If the lawmakers' claims are anything to go by, they were prepared to reject his nomination. Seeing his chances of getti...