After the House of Representatives (HoR), the opposition Nepali Congress obstructed the National Assembly meeting on Tuesday as per its strategy to protest against the government move to come up with a bill on National Medical Education bypassing the recommendations made by Kedar Bhakta Mathema-led task force.

The opposition lawmakers staged a protest, standing up from their chairs as soon as NA Chairman Ganesh Prasad Timilsina started the meeting. Following the obstruction from the NC, the ruling party lawmakers too stood from their seats demanding the opposition to cooperate in running the meeting.

Nepal Communist Party Chief Whip Khim Lal Bhattarai and NC Chief Whip Surendra Pandey even traded barbs prompting NA Chairman Timilsina to postpone the meeting for Wednesday. The HoR meeting has been postponed till Thursday after a similar protest at the Lower House last week. The Congress has said it would protest the government at every forum—both from the streets and Parliament—until it addresses the concerns of Dr Govind KC who has been on a hunger strike for the past 25 days, demanding reforms in the country’s medical education sector. The bill, which has been tabled at Parliament, has omitted major recommendations of the Mathema panel including a 10-year moratorium on opening of new medical schools in the Valley. The ruling party is, however, in favour of granting affiliations to some medical colleges.