Amid calls to step down after the visit visa scam rocked the home administration, the ruling Nepali Congress has concluded that Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak should not resign based solely on rumors spread on social media, saying there is no evidence confirming his involvement in the ‘visit visa scam’.

The Commission for the Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA) has unearthed a widespread network operating the scam with the help of officials at the immigration office at the Tribhuvan International Airport. The immigration office chief, Joint Secretary Tirtharaj Bhattarai, was removed from his duties and now facing inquiry from the anti-graft body.

As reported in mainstream and social media, the network involved in the scam has links to the private secretariat of Minister Lekhak.

The visit visa scandal involves senior officials close to Home Minister Lekhak, including members of his secretariat. As a result, some leaders in his Nepali Congress party as well as some opposition leaders have been demanding his resignation.

In the midst of the controversy, home minister Lekhak is under scrutiny from various sections, which compelled him to release a statement and clarification. His party on Monday called a meeting of former and current office bearers to discuss the controversy around Lekhak, a key architect of the current alliance between Congress and CPN-UML.

The UML has already come to Lekhak’s defence, while two opposition parties, the CPN (Maoist Centre) and the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), have demanded his immediate resignation. A meeting of Maoist Centre office bearers on Monday has decided to step up pressure in Parliament to force the home minister to quit. The party said the visit visa scam has damaged the country’s image.

As Home Minister Lekhak is set to address Parliament on Tuesday, both the Maoist Centre and the RSP plan to protest in the House of Representatives and are unlikely to let him speak.

Also, a section of Congress leaders including Shekhar Koirala, and Sunil Shamra, Rajendra Bajagain, have expressed concern over the scam and called on the home minister to step down and cooperate with the investigation.

Speaking to journalists after the office-bearers’ meeting, Congress spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat stated that the home minister is innocent. He said Lekhak would clarify the issue related to the anti-corruption raid at the immigration office and subsequent developments, both in and outside Parliament.

“We fully trust him [Lekhak]. He is not involved in the visit visa case. However, those involved must be punished, and there must be an impartial investigation. There is no disagreement on that point,” said Mahat after the meeting. “We don’t tolerate the misuse of visit visas or corruption. As far as the home minister is concerned, we are confident he is not involved.”

Mahat also mentioned that some leaders, including Shekhar Koirala, had demanded the home minister’s resignation without fully understanding the situation. He clarified that those leaders have now understood the reality, and such statements won’t be made in the future.

In the meeting, according to two Congress leaders, Lekhak had expressed his intent to resign to avoid causing trouble for the party. Party chief Sher Bahadur Deuba and other party leaders had urged Lekhak to brief the meeting on the scam and the role of the home administration, including his own role.

Lekhak repeatedly stated during the meeting that he was not involved and said he was ready to step aside if it would help the party, the Congress leaders said. “I am not involved. But there was a lack of support even from within the party. I was publicly humiliated by Shekhar [Koirala] and others. If I have caused any difficulty for the party, I am ready to resign. I will make my way. I have not made any mistake,” one leader quoted Lekhak as saying in the meeting.

Lekhak also told party leaders to look into his past and evaluate him as home minister. “Despite everything, if the party and its leaders continue to be unsupportive, I am ready to resign,” Lekhak reportedly said at the meeting. Lekhak also elaborated on how the issue surfaced, the status of ongoing CIAA investigation, and his role in the present controversy.

After listening to Lekhak's clarification, the leaders told him there was no need to resign.

“We have also been observing what is going on. There is no need to resign,” said Deuba. “Just keep doing your job. There is no need to worry much.”

In the meeting, the leaders also termed the entire issue as a politically motivated smear campaign. The party’s former general secretary, Shashank Koirala, said that blaming Lekhak despite his lack of involvement is wrong. “After hearing him [Lekhak], I became completely clear. He has made no mistake. He is being falsely accused, and that is wrong. Tomorrow, he will clarify this in Parliament.”

Koirala also said that during the meeting, a proposal was made to seek clarification from the three Congress leaders who publicly demanded Lekhak’s resignation. He named Shekhar [Koirala], Bajagain, and [Sunil] Sharma, saying there was no alternative but to seek clarification from them.

“I proposed that Shekhar, Sunil Sharma, and Rajendra Bajgain be asked to clarify. The party president [Deuba] did not say anything—only that he would look into it. But I think it must be done. There’s no other option.”

The controversy erupted after the CIAA, the constitutional anti-graft body, raided the TIA Immigration Office on May 22, based on complaints of visit visa manipulation. During the raid, the CIAA detained Immigration chief and joint secretary, Tirtharaj Bhattarai, and seized vital documents.

Following Bhattarai’s arrest, the CIAA has also begun investigating staff from the home minister’s secretariat, raising questions about the home minister’s moral responsibility in the case.

Bhattarai was taken into the CIAA’s custody a day after being transferred from the airport to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The anti-graft body claims to have uncovered evidence indicating that many people were sent abroad on visit visas in exchange for large sums of money, in collusion with Bhattarai. Applicants were reportedly forced to pay bribes to get around cumbersome and excessive paperwork requirements.

Bhattarai’s transfer to the home ministry while he was under CIAA investigation has fuelled suspicions of higher authorities’ involvement in the scam.

The agency has not publicly shared any information of its ongoing investigation, but some media reports, citing unnamed sources at the CIAA, allege that officials from Lekhak’s secretariat are also culpable.