A series of political developments on Sunday, including the resignation of Home Minister Bimalendra Nidhi may put the scheduled local level polls into a tailspin.

With the registration of impeachment on Chief Justice Sushila Karki by lawmakers of the ruling Nepali Congress and CPN (Maoist Centre), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Federal Affairs and Local Development Kamal Thapa has expressed serious concern over the development.

Thapa’s RPP has called an emergency meeting of its central executive committee on Monday where the party leaders are expected to discuss on whether to pull out of the governing coalition.

Thapa had joined the government after the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha decided to withdraw its support to the government. But the Morcha, which now consists of two parties—Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal and Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum-Nepal—are ready to join the polls claiming that the government has already kept its promise by registering amendments on its amendment proposal.

Nidhi’s decision to step down as home minister in objection to the impeachment motion registered in the Parliament Secretariat has left the local polls under uncertainty.

However, Maoist Centre’s Spokesperson Pampha Bhusal maintained that the local elections would not be affected, saying that Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal would talk to Nidhi and ask him to reconsider his decision. 

She said the party’s headquarters would be held on Monday morning to assess the political developments.

The coalition partners’ tabling of the impeachment motion “was not an abrupt decision”, Bhusal insisted, saying, “It was rather taken after a deep thought as ‘both the bureaucracy and judiciary had been refusing to internalise the political changes and they need to be restructured.’”

The Parliament meeting has been postponed for four days for the discussion on the 50 amendments on the government’s amendment proposal registered on Saturday. 

However, PM Dahal clarified that the agitating Sanghiya Gathabandhan would join the polls even if the amendment proposal could not be endorsed through Parliament.

He said the House meeting was postponed as the lawmakers would be busy with the nominations for the local level elections. 

Leaders of the main opposition UML have also claimed that the impeachment was brought to foil the local polls.