By MANJUSHREE THAPA
Most Nepalis recognize that today’s election will, in fact, send our country into an era of heightened instability.
Polls Open in Nepal the Day After Violence Killed 8
KATMANDU, Nepal — Violence marred the eve of a historic election intended to bolster peace in Nepal, as officials confirmed Wednesday the killings of at least eight people in three incidents in the tense western hill region.
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Somini Sengupta interviews Nepal's Maoist leader, Prachanda (mp3) 
A woman casting her vote in Katmandu, Nepal, on Thursday. More Photos >
Police officers waited to be deployed in Bhaktapur, Nepal, near Katmandu, on Wednesday, a day before crucial elections. More Photos >
In a turning point for a country bled by a decade-long Maoist insurgency, polls opened Thursday morning for Nepal’s 17.6 million voters to choose a special assembly that will rewrite the Constitution and govern the nation in the meantime.
Yesterday’s guerrillas are running for seats in the 601-member Constituent Assembly. Even some of their staunchest critics have said elections are the only way to bring them into a lawful parliamentary system.
On the outskirts of the Katmandu Valley on Thursday, in a district called Kavre, men and women lined up in neat rows at daybreak to cast their votes.
Navaraj Suwal, 42, a teacher, said Nepal had never had elections like this before. “This election will determine the kind of laws that will be around for the next hundred years,” he said.
So excited was he that he showed up 45 minutes before the polls opened and was the second man in line.
The transition from war to peace here has been exceptionally difficult, with the period before the elections characterized by violence and intimidation among rival parties. The Maoists have been accused in a majority of the cases, particularly their youth wing, known as the Young Communist League, which has been taken to task for bullying and beating members of other parties and preventing them from campaigning freely.
The latest violence has turned the tables on the Maoists. In western Dang district, at least six members of the Young Communist League were fatally shot Tuesday night by security forces accompanying candidates from the largest party, Nepali Congress.
Earlier on Tuesday, in nearby Surkhet district, Rishi Prasad Sharma, a candidate of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), was shot dead. The authorities have not said who was responsible.
On Wednesday, when protesters defied a curfew, the police fired, killing one.
Voting has been delayed indefinitely in the election district where Mr. Sharma was running.
On Wednesday, Ian Martin, the United Nations chief envoy in Nepal, urged all parties to “avoid provocations of one another” and called for an independent investigation of security forces suspected of using excessive force.
The Constituent Assembly elections are occurring two years after King Gyanendra, who had seized control, returned power to the last elected government. The Maoists locked up their guns, ended their quest for a Communist state and joined the legislature. This vote would legitimize their role in the government because they would have elected seats for the first time.
The new assembly will be entrusted to resolve some of the most intractable problems facing Nepal, including whether it will remain a monarchy and how its traditionally marginalized ethnic and caste groups will be represented. Upper-caste men have dominated Nepal’s politics, including the leadership of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).
Already the elections had been delayed because of violence in the southeastern plains known as the Terai, where residents have been demanding more autonomy, sometimes violently. Even these elections would be threatened were it not for a recent agreement between the government and the main Terai groups.
Most are now participating, but a handful of the most radical groups called for a boycott, which could suppress turnout in some areas.
More than 800 international observers were to spread across Nepal on Thursday. Results are not expected for several weeks.
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