Nepali Congress (NC) obstructed the assembly meeting of Province 3 in Hetauda on Monday for ignoring the longstanding issue of naming the province and designating its capital.

Following the disruption, Speaker Sanu Kumar Shrestha postponed the assembly meeting until 4pm on Tuesday. The main opposition party obstructed the house for the first time, citing that the government failed to introduce the proposal regarding the name and capital of the province in the budget session.

“We were compelled to disrupt the provincial assembly meeting since the commitments of the chief minister and the speaker to introduce the proposal in the provincial assembly were not fulfilled,” said NC Parliamentary Party leader Indra Bahadur Baniya. He claimed that Chief  Minister Dormani Poudel and Speaker Shrestha had expressed their commitments to introduce the proposal during the budget session. “During the winter session of the assembly, the Speaker had expressed his commitment to settle the issue by formulating working guidelines. The government has held the provincial assembly hostage of its indecision. Necessary budget should be allocated in the upcoming fiscal year to build physical infrastructures required for the provincial capital,” said Baniya, warning that the NC would continue house disruption unless the provincial government introduces the proposal to name the province and designate its capital.

The NC lawmakers stood up from their seats and disrupted the house soon after the parliamentary leaders of major political parties addressed the assembly meeting.

Opposition attempts to create confrontation: NCP leader

Salikram Jamarkattel, deputy parliamentary party leader of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), claimed that the opposition party attempted to disrupt the budget session of the provincial assembly just to create confrontation. “The house disruption does not solve the issue of naming the province and designating its capital. It further increases confrontation between the ruling and the opposition parties,” he said. Stating that the name and capital of the province is not only the issue of the NC but of all lawmakers, Jamarkattel asserted that the government was preparing to introduce the proposal soon.Meanwhile, the NCP has called its parliamentary party meeting for Tuesday to discuss the issue of the name and capital of the province in particular. The NCP lawmakers are divided on whether to resolve the issue through voting or consensus.As per the constitutional provision, the provincial assembly meeting can name and declare the capital of the province by a two-thirds majority.