Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Bimalendra Nidhi and CPN-UML leader Bhim Rawal, also a former deputy prime minister, were involved in an altercation once again on Friday, as the two senior leaders traded words over Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s letter to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.

As a special representative of the government, Nidhi, during his visit to India last month, was said to have handed over Dahal’s letter to Modi.

During a meeting of the International Relations and Labour Committee of Parliament on Friday, Rawal demanded that the government make the letter public. Accusing the government of immature diplomacy, Rawal said: “If the government fails to make the letter public, it will mean we are inviting foreign intervention.”

In response, DPM Nidhi claimed that nothing related to Nepal’s internal matters was mentioned in the letter.

“Our visits to India and China contributed in strengthening Nepal’s with both the countries,” said Nidhi. “It is an immature act on the part of a mature political party like UML which is hell bent on making the letter public,” added.  “The letter is safely kept at the Foreign Ministry and the UML can see it when it returns to the government.”

Nidhi’s response did not go down well with Rawal, who then retorted: “I am not making the demand of making the letter public as a UML leader. I am a parliamentarian too.”

When Rawal accused Nidhi of breaching House protocol, the latter snapped, saying: “The PM had sent two emissaries to India and China, and it is not appropriate to doubt someone who went to Delhi.” DPM Nidhi even took a pot shot at Rawal saying: “I don’t need to learn any lesson on nationalism from the disciples of Marx and Lenin.”