Karnali Province assembly meeting halted due to dispute between ruling and opposition parties

KARNALI: The scheduled Karnali Province Assembly meeting, meant for tabling the provincial budget for fiscal year 2082/83, could not convene on Sunday due to disagreements between the ruling coalition and the opposition.

Chief Whip of the main opposition party, CPN (Maoist Centre), Krishna Bahadur GC, said the dispute arose because the government failed to make the project bank public before bringing the budget. He alleged that the budget included projects from outside the ministers’ own constituencies without transparency.

“The government has brought the budget unilaterally, without consultation,” GC stated. “The so-called project bank lacks transparency, and we have no idea what projects it includes.”

He further claimed that the budget was prepared in a biased and non-inclusive manner, favoring only selected constituencies.

Karnali Province Assembly Secretariat spokesperson Netra Khatri said that although a Business Advisory Committee meeting was held to resolve the dispute, consensus could not be reached.

He added that the issue might now be addressed through high-level talks between leaders of the ruling coalition and the opposition.