KATHMANDU: Tensions escalated in the House of Representatives on Thursday as lawmakers from multiple parties questioned Prime Minister Balendra Shah over his repeated absence from parliamentary proceedings, while the House also confirmed the removal of controversial remarks made by an opposition lawmaker from the official record.

Rastriya Prajatantra Party chief whip Khushbu Oli said the Prime Minister appears unwilling to be accountable to Parliament, calling his absence during the ongoing policy and programme debate unusual and concerning.

Similarly, CPN (UML) chief whip Ain Bahadur Mahar questioned what governance model the government is following, citing constitutional provisions that define Nepal as a federal democratic republic.

He alleged that the government was ignoring Parliament and raised concerns over what he described as attempts to project an alternative political style, informally referred to in political discussion as a “Balen system.”

Shram Sanskriti Party MP Aren Rai also warned that his party would boycott parliamentary proceedings if the Prime Minister does not attend the ongoing debate on the policy and programme, stressing that lawmakers are elected to raise public issues and expect the head of government to be present in the House.

In a separate development, the House confirmed that remarks made by Rastriya Swatantra Party lawmaker Ganesh Parajuli have been expunged from the parliamentary record.

Speaker Dol Prasad (DP) Aryal informed lawmakers that two phrases used by Parajuli during the May 13 session—“hired musclemen” and “walking naked even while wearing clothes”—were removed following objections raised in the House and a formal directive from the Secretariat.

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