The main opposition Nepali Congress made it clear on Monday that a parliamentary probe against Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Rabi Lamichhane over his alleged involvement in misusing cooperative funds is the party’s bottom line.

With the Congress sticking to its stance on a parliamentary probe and the government’s insistence that the home minister be allowed to table a bill at Tuesday’s meeting of the lower house, parliamentary proceedings are likely to be disrupted.

If the government attempts to forcefully push ahead with the House proceedings on Tuesday and allows Home Minister Lamichhane to table a bill, the Nepali Congress will resort to obstructing the meeting and prevent him from speaking, Congress leaders said.

During a meeting called by Speaker Devraj Ghimire on Monday, Congress leaders stressed that they would bar the home minister from speaking and presenting bills in parliament until a parliamentary probe is formed.

As the Speaker has scheduled a House session for Tuesday, he met the top leaders of the ruling and opposition parties to discuss the demands of the Nepali Congress.

Lammichhane, who is accused of misusing cooperative funds worth millions of rupees, has been denying the allegations.

“If the ruling side allows the home minister to speak, we will obstruct the House and the government will be responsible for the obstruction,” said Ramesh Lekhak, chief whip of the Congress.

Several media outlets also reported that a complaint has been filed with the police against the home minister accusing him of illegally borrowing Rs10 million from a Kaski-based cooperative, which was later declared crisis-ridden by the government.

The complainants and victims of the cooperatives have demanded action against Lamichhane and other office bearers of the Kaski-based cooperatives, including GB Rai, who owned the cooperative but is currently absconding and living in Malaysia, according to the Nepal Police.

Our minimum demand is to constitute a parliamentary probe committee on the allegation against the home minister, said Lekhak, but the government is not ready to accept it.

“If there is any disruption in the House, the government will be responsible. We will see how the government presents itself tomorrow [Tuesday], and Congress will act accordingly,” said Lekhak, adding that the position of his party on formation of the parliamentary probe committee has not changed.

“Deposits of millions of Nepalis have been misappropriated, with billions of rupees stolen by a handful of people, so we will not agree to anything less than a parliamentary investigation into this scam,” Lekhak added.

The ruling parties, however, have rejected the demands put forth by the Congress and have stated that the home minister will present a bill at Tuesday's House meeting.

“A bill to amend the Political Parties Act which should be tabled by the home minister, is pending, we will move ahead with that tomorrow,” Santosh Pariyar, RSP chief whip, told journalists after the meeting.

During the meeting with the Speaker on Monday, both Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and CPN-UML Vice Chairman Bishnu Poudel swiftly rejected the opposition party’s demand for a parliamentary probe into Lamichhane.

“The main opposition’s demand is inappropriate,” retorted Hitraj Pandey, chief whip of the CPN (Maoist Centre). “The House proceedings will continue tomorrow as per the schedule.”

Pandey also reiterated the ruling coalition’s stance that a parliamentary investigation against Lamichhane is not necessary.

Lamichhane’s Rastriya Swatantra Party dismisses the allegations against the party chair as “fake.”

“How can a parliamentary investigation be formed based on false allegations?” says Pariyar.

“This is a deliberate attempt to tarnish the home minister’s reputation. There is no need for a parliamentary probe. The Congress is behaving like a stubborn child,” he said.

The UML, the largest party in the ruling alliance, is also opposed to any investigation against the home minister.

“We told the Nepali Congress leaders that their demand is a result of political bias, hence the probe committee cannot be formed,” said Mahesh Bartuala, chief whip of the UML. “We have clarified it to the Congress that their demand for parliamentary investigation cannot be met.”

“The demand for a parliamentary investigation is not only unfair, but also unjustified. If we keep undertaking parliamentary probes on trivial matters, we will not reach anywhere. We have also urged the Congress to reconsider its demand,” said Bartuala.

The meeting called by the Speaker ended inconclusively due to continued disagreements between the ruling and opposition parties.