A day after the Election Commission defined the inauguration of any public event by a sitting minister as a breach of the election code of conduct, Minister for Water Supply and Sanitation Prem Bahadur Singh attended a public function here on Thursday.

Minister Singh inaugurated the fifth general meeting of the Kusumba Drinking Water Consumer Committee at Sanoshree Taratal in Bardiya. He also inspected the project later. Six government vehicles were used to ferry Minister Singh and chiefs of various government offices in the district, among others, to the function.

Sanoshree Taratal is 14km west of Gulariya, the district headquarters of Bardiya. District Election Office, Bardiya, said Minister Singh’s participation in the function had violated the election code that came into force on Wednesday.

“Sitting ministers cannot inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of development projects. They can inaugurate general meetings but government vehicles cannot be used without the permission of the election office,” said Pawan Shahi, chief of the District Election Office. He added that Minister Shahi did not get the election office’s approval to use the vehicles.

During a meeting with ministers on Wednesday, the EC had made it clear that sitting ministers cannot attend campaigns for local polls scheduled for May 14.