Amresh Singh challenges Speaker of not accepting ruling based on CPN (UML)’s demand

Kathmandu: The remarks made by independent MP Amresh Kumar Singh have been removed from the parliamentary record as the discussion on the upcoming fiscal year’s budget is underway in the House of Representatives.

MP Singh said that the districts that received little or no budget allocation should be merged with other “countries”. After a point of order by the CPN (UML) party, Speaker Devraj Ghimire ruled to expunge Singh’s remarks from the official record.

During the debate, Singh said that if certain districts in the Terai only existed for the purpose of collecting taxes, then such districts should be sent to another country. MP Singh said, ‘We can keep four or five lucky districts within Nepal, and lease the rest of the 72 out of 77 districts. Lets give to America, China, and India. If no budget is allocated to those districts, why keep them? Just to collect taxes?’

Following this, Singh gave the example of the Ministry of Urban Development, pointing out how the budget allocations were concentrated in Kathmandu and Sarlahi.

Later, CPN (UML) Chief Whip Mahesh Bartuala rose with a point of order and demanded that Singh’s remarks be deleted from the parliamentary record and that action be taken against him. Bartuala called Singh’s remarks “anti-national.”

Speaker Ghimire ruled that Singh’s remarks were unparliamentary and ordered them to be expunged from the record. However, Singh, still standing at the rostrum, refused to accept the ruling, saying that the Speaker only heeds UML’s demands and only issues rulings against independent lawmakers.

Nepali version of the news