<sod >His nearest challenger is the Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin, on 15.9 per cent, followed by veteran nationalist VladimirÃÂÃÂ Zhirinovsky on 6.96 per cent.< eod>< sod > His nearest challenger was the Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin, on 13.38 per cent, followed by veteran nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky on 6.34 per cent.< eod>