Lawmakers from the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) on Sunday continued obstructing the House of Representatives, demanding the resignation of Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak, even as Speaker Devraj Ghimire proceeded with the parliamentary meeting.

Speaker Ghimire allowed Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel to speak amid chants and sloganeering by opposition lawmakers. RSP lawmakers banged tables while RPP lawmakers stood in protest. Despite the ruckus, Ghimire pushed ahead, letting lawmakers address the House.

The protest follows a rift that emerged after the CPN (Maoist Centre), previously part of the opposition alliance, struck a deal with the ruling coalition, breaking ranks with the RSP and RPP. The Maoist Centre agreed to a two-point understanding with the government on Friday, ending its participation in the obstruction that had begun on May 27.

Under the agreement, the government pledged to cooperate with the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), which is already probing the visit visa scam, and promised policy, legal, and structural reforms to address systemic flaws in immigration. The CIAA began its investigation after raiding the Tribhuvan International Airport Immigration Office on May 22, detaining joint secretary Tirtharaj Bhattarai and seizing documents pointing to irregularities.

The RSP and RPP rejected the deal, calling it a betrayal. They reiterated that Home Minister Lekhak’s resignation and the formation of an independent probe panel—either parliamentary or judicial—are non-negotiable.

The CIAA has extended its investigation to include officials from Home Minister Lekhak’s secretariat. It claims to have evidence that individuals were sent abroad on visit visas in exchange for large sums of money in collusion with Bhattarai. His transfer to the home ministry after the investigation began further fuelled suspicions of political involvement.