KATHMANDU: The political tension usually visible in Federal Parliament sessions has now extended into parliamentary committees, with a heated confrontation breaking out in the House of Representatives’ Women and Social Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
A near physical altercation occurred between the committee chairperson and UML lawmaker Kiran Kumar Sah and opposition MP Kalpana Miya Kusari of the Maoist Centre. The scuffle unfolded during a meeting held early in the morning at 7 am.
According to eyewitnesses, MP Kusari arrived late to the meeting and began speaking without seeking permission from Chairperson Sah.
When Sah objected to her interruption, Kusari, visibly angry, threw her nameplate and microphone toward him. Fortunately, neither object hit Sah, and no injury was reported.
Chairperson Sah said the meeting was convened to present a subcommittee report coordinated by MPs Shobha Gyawali and Sushila Sirpali Thakuri. He claimed Kusari disrupted the process by speaking out of turn and then resorted to aggression when he tried to maintain order.
In response, MP Kusari accused Sah of preventing her from speaking in order to cover up his own mistakes. She has threatened to report Sah’s arbitrary behavior to Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire.
Sah, defending his actions, said, “I simply told her it was not her turn to speak. She had arrived late and started discussing unrelated issues, which led to the dispute.”
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