Ruling Parties Express Dissatisfaction with Sudurpaschim Province Government's Budget

Dhangadhi. Dissatisfaction within the ruling parties regarding the Sudurpaschim Province government's budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2083/84 has become clearer. Two ministers from his own party and some MPs did not participate in the Nepali Congress parliamentary party meeting called by Chief Minister Kamal Bahadur Shah on Monday.

The Chief Minister had called the party meeting as preparation to advance the discussion on the budget in the Provincial Assembly meeting scheduled for Tuesday. However, Minister of Industry, Tourism, Forest and Environment Man Bahadur Rawal and Minister of Social Development Bel Bahadur Rana did not attend the meeting. They are considered close to Congress leader Diwansingh Bisht. Sources said that some other MPs from his group, including Bisht, also did not participate in the meeting.

As the other faction remained absent from the meeting, Chief Minister Shah stated that he would proceed with continuous dialogue and consensus with all parties regarding the budget. He pledged to improve the technical weaknesses identified during the budget preparation and said that plans worth approximately one and a half billion rupees that were duplicated would be removed.

According to an MP who attended the meeting, a conclusion was reached to discuss with all parties in the Provincial Assembly to pass the budget and to proceed by reaching an agreement with the ruling coalition parties.

Meanwhile, the Diwansingh Bisht faction, which did not attend the meeting, stated that they did not consider the parliamentary party meeting particularly meaningful because coordination between the top leadership of Congress and UML was being prepared to resolve the budget-related dispute.

The Sudurpaschim Province government had presented a budget of 37 billion 700 million rupees on June 1. However, the budget has not yet been formally presented in the Provincial Assembly. UML, also part of the ruling coalition, has expressed dissatisfaction with the budget and has decided to bring an amendment proposal.