Amid growing dissatisfaction over the government's performance, the largest party in the government, Nepali Congress, has called a joint meeting of its ministers and parliamentary committee on Thursday.

Party president Sher Bahadur Deuba wanted the joint sitting of ministers with the parliamentary committee, said Shyam Ghimire, chief whip of the party. Deuba has told the party’s dozen ministers to come up with their respective progress reports, said a minister.

Earlier Deuba had such a meeting on August 18, when they spent five hours discussing governance issues. This is a second similar meeting but the situation is more serious now with the government in its sixth month but becoming more and more unpopular, said a leader close to Deuba. The party chief reportedly has some strong instructions for the ministers.

The joint meeting will discuss the overall performance of the government and the status of pending bills in the House, said Ghimire. They will also discuss the current political situation. Besides discussing their report cards, the Congress ministers will also apprise the party leadership of the problems and obstacles they are facing while performing their duties.

The government faces growing criticism for not calling the House session to forward bills but issuing ordinances instead.

On the other hand, opposition parties are uniting against the governing coalition of the Congress and the CPN-UML. On Wednesday, they issued a warning against the Oli government. The meeting of opposition parties urgently demanded a new session of Parliament.

Talking to reporters, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak said that the meeting will be convened at Deuba’s residence in Budhanilkantha. It aims to facilitate discussions between the parliamentary party’s executive committee and the ministers.

“This is a preparatory meeting ahead of Parliament’s session. Ministers will update the party chief on their ongoing work,” Lekhak said. An office bearer said there would also be a discussion on concerns raised in the party regarding the performance of some of the ministers.

“Some ministers have repeatedly courted controversies. It has not only tarnished the image of the ministers concerned but also caused damage to the party,” the office bearer said. “We will have a serious discussion on this matter as well.”

The objective of the joint meeting of ministers and parliamentary committee is to discuss the status of pending bills, said Ghimire. In the parliamentary committee, besides party president, there are vice-presidents, general secretaries, chief whip, leaders of the National Assembly and chief whip of the party in the National Assembly.

From the Nepali Congress, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Urban Development Prakash Man Singh, Home Minister Lekhak, Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba, Minister for Tourism Badri Pandey, Health Minister Pradeep Poudel, Agriculture Minister Ramnath Pandey, Law Minister Ajay Chaurasiya, Minister for Sports and Youth Tejulal Chaudhary, Energy Minister Dipak Khadka, Minister for Forest and Environment Ain Bahadur Shahi are the Cabinet ministers. Rupa Bishawkarma and Purna Bahadur Tamang are the two ministers of state in the government from the party.