NCP Parliamentary Party Discusses Sudurpaschim Budget as Chief Minister Bhatta Explains Delay

Dhangadhi: The Nepal Communist Party (NCP), which holds power in Sudurpaschim Province, has initiated discussions regarding the budget.

Chief Minister Khagaraj Bhatta, who is also the leader of the NCP parliamentary party, convened a meeting of his party to deliberate on the budget. The meeting addressed the failure to present the budget within the month of Bhadra.

According to Prakash Rawal, Minister for Industry, Tourism, Forest, and Environment and spokesperson for the provincial government, Chief Minister Bhatta briefed the party meeting on the reasons behind the delay in presenting the budget. Discussions were also held regarding the government’s progress and activities to date.

Minister Rawal stated that Chief Minister Bhatta informed the meeting that the budget could not be presented in Bhadra due to various factors, including the transfers of the Chief Secretary and provincial secretaries. Other cited reasons included the time required to formulate a “minimum common program,” delays in constituting the Policy and Planning Commission, and the central government sending an advisor to assist with budget formulation.

The province has been without a budget for two months after the Provincial Assembly failed to pass the budget introduced by the previous government for the current fiscal year. The new government, formed by the NCP and the CPN (UML) in the wake of that budget’s failure, had aimed to present a budget within Bhadra but has so far been unable to do so.

Minister Rawal added that the Chief Minister briefed the meeting on the plan to eliminate small, fragmented projects and instead select projects based on established criteria. A meeting of the NCP-UML parliamentary party held just a few days ago directed its ministers to adopt a policy of not allocating budget for small or fragmented projects.

The meeting also discussed the dissatisfaction emerging within the NCP. It had recently come to light that seven or eight NCP Provincial Assembly members were collecting signatures to remove Bhatta, who also serves as the Chief Minister, from the position of parliamentary party leader. They had also put forward a 17-point list of demands.