Sudurpashchim budget row: Congress boycotts, provincial assembly session postponed again

The main opposition Nepali Congress has decided to boycott the Sudurpashchim provincial assembly after a dispute erupted over the provincial budget.

Kamal Bahadur Shah, leader of the Congress parliamentary party and outgoing chief minister, said the assembly was boycotted because the budget was flawed and the government failed to coordinate with the opposition. Congress also alleged the budget was not pro-people.

According to the provincial assembly secretariat, Tuesday's session, originally called for 9 a.m., was first postponed to 1 p.m. and then to 5 p.m.

The budget for the current fiscal year 2083/84, worth about Rs 37.7 billion, was tabled in the provincial assembly on Sunday. Members of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) in the provincial assembly had themselves expressed dissatisfaction with the budget.

A meeting of the NCP parliamentary party on Tuesday decided to pass the budget, form a parliamentary probe committee to resolve the dispute, and bring a supplementary budget by Kartik 15. According to NCP provincial assembly member Akkal Bahadur Rawal, irregularities in the budget would be removed through the supplementary budget after the committee's investigation. The party meeting also agreed not to spend on capital expenditure in the meantime.

The government has also begun efforts to bring Congress on board, and is preparing to get the budget passed at Tuesday evening's session itself.