Kathmandu, December 4
There was uproar in the Parliament on Sunday after a lawmaker accused India of uniting Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal and seeking to divide the main opposition CPN-UML.
Right after the start of the Parliament meeting, lawmakers from CPN-UML and other leftist parties had stood up in protest.
Afterwards, Speaker Onsari Gharti gave Anuradha Thapa Magar, a lawmaker from Nepal Workers’ and Peasants’ Party, time to speak.
Lawmaker Magar said: We cannot support Constitution amendment as it reflects the desire of the government of India instead of fulfilling the demands of the Nepali people. Thapa pointed that India had engineered the unification of RPP and RPP-Nepal to amend the Constitution in a way that serves its interests, adding that India is also conspiring to split the CPN-UML.
Her remarks riled lawmakers from the newly-united RPP, who stood up in protest. They asked Speaker Gharti to remove Thapa’s remarks from the record of the Parliament.
Lawmaker Magar accused Madheshi Morcha leaders of serving the interests of the government of India in the name of serving the Madheshi people. Lawmakers from opposition parties said they will not let the Parliament meeting resume unless the government withdraws what they called a foreign-sponsored Constitution Amendment Bill. Speaker Gharti asked lawmakers to take their seats, but to no avail.
With lawmakers from opposition parties standing in protest, parliamentary proceedings cannot continue, Speaker said, adjourning the House meeting till December 7, the Parliament Secretariat informed.