KATHMANDU: Maulapur Municipality’s Mayor, Reena Kumari Sah, finds herself embroiled in controversy again over her removal from office.

The Election Commission (EC) reported to Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane on Sunday after Sah’s removal, reigniting the dispute.

While the EC stated that Mayor Sah has been relieved of her duties and by-elections were to be held, Sah contends that she has been consistently fulfilling her duties at Maulapur Municipality.

On October 17, 2023, following the CPN-UML meeting’s decision to remove Sah from the party, the Election Commission had decided to remove Reena Kumari from the mayoral position.

Additionally, the Chief Election Commissioner, Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya, briefed Home Minister Lamichhane on Sunday, informing him that the position of Maulapur Municipality’s mayor was vacant, as per the decision made by the Election Commission.

Aam Janata Party Chairperson, Prabhu Sah’s wife, Reena, had won the mayoral position from the UML in the past. However, following Prabhu Sah’s switch to being an independent lawmaker, the irate UML had declared that Reena was no longer in the party and had communicated this to the EC accordingly.

Based on this information provided by the UML, the EC had decided to remove her from the mayoral position on October 17, 2023.

However, Reena had appealed to the Supreme Court (SC) against the decision.

The Court, through an interim order on November 10, halted her removal from office.

Similarly, in the same order, the SC directed Reena to continue performing her duties.