NEW DELHI, Jan 29: A top Hindu nationalist leader on Saturday escaped an attack by Maoist rebels who bombed his helicopter during election campaigning in eastern state of Bihar, a report said.

M. Venkaiah Naidu, former president of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, was flying over Maoist-infested Gaya district when his helicopter ran out of fuel and had to make an emergency landing, the Press Trust of India reported.

After the aircraft landed safely and Naidu and the other occupants left the spot, Maoist rebels set the helicopter ablaze with a petrol bomb, the report said.

Elections are due in Bihar on Feb 3, 15 and 23.

Most parts of southern Bihar, where Gaya is located, have for decades been hotbeds of a raging Maoist insurgency.

The two main groups active in the region - the Maoist Communist Centre and the People's War Group - have called on votes to boycott the polls, saying elections are no solution to the problems of the rural poor.-AFP