The main opposition Nepali Congress (NC) has challenged the government’s announcement to hold local elections by the end of this year, arguing that it is useless to go to polls without restructuring the local bodies to reflect the federalisation of the country as envisioned in the Constitution of Nepal.

Registering its amendment proposal to the government policies and programmes presented in Parliament on Sunday, the NC has asked the government to complete the delineation of the local bodies as per Article 303 of the constitution before declaring the date for local body elections.

The government has formed a commission to recommend the restructuring of local bodies.

In the 16-point amendment  proposal registered by NC lawmaker Ramesh Lekhak in the Parliament Secretariat on Monday, the NC has also demanded that the political deadlock be resolved first by bringing the agitating Madhesi and Tharu parties on board.

Apart from the NC, Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party (NMKP), one of the coalition partners in the incumbent government, and Khambuwan Rastriya Morcha (KRM) have also registered amendment proposals, seeking changes to several points of the policies and programmes that will be discussed in Parliament for four days from Tuesday. The NC and KRM have registered one amendment each while NMKP has registered two amendments, according to Sudarshan Kuikel, deputy spokesperson for the Parliament Secretariat.

President Bidhya Devi Bhandari on Sunday presented 134-point policies and programmes.

Stating that implementation of the programmes is a big challenge, the NC has also asked the government to create environment to increase the capital expenditure. Over Rs 100 billion remains unspent in the state coffers as capital expenditure barely stands at 19 percent.

The NC has also demanded zero tolerance on corruption and called for equipping anti-graft bodies with adequate resources.

The main opposition has also sought immediate control on black-marketeering and inflation. It has demanded that smooth supply of petroleum products and daily commodities be ensured.

Similarly, NMKP, which has registered two separate amendments, has demanded deployment of the Nepal Army instead of the Armed Police Force to on the border.

The separate amendments registered by lawmakers Prem Suwal and Anuradha Thapa Magar respectively have also demanded free education and health services, exploration of sources of petroleum products.

It has also suggested allocation of budget to produce cooking gas and manure from the wastage generated in the valley.