The opposition bloc has decided to allow the presentation of the national budget in Parliament on Thursday while continuing to demand Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak’s resignation for his alleged connection in the visit visa scam.

A meeting of the opposition parties that have been obstructing the House of Representatives sessions to build pressure on Lekhak to resign decided to allow the House to function for the budget presentation. It is a constitutional obligation of the government to present the federal budget on Jestha 15, which falls on Thursday this year.

Manish Jha, acting spokesperson of the opposition Rastriya Swatantra Party, said they will demonstrate “political maturity” and allow the House to function during the budget presentation. “However, we will not allow other businesses until Lekhak’s resignation,” Jha said.

Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel is scheduled to present the budget for the upcoming fiscal year in the joint meeting of the House and the National Assembly.

The meeting of the opposition parties sans Rastriya Prajatantra Party was called to devise a common position on Lekhak. The meeting decided Lekhak’s resignation would be the bottom line to allow the House to function.

The lower house has not functioned since Tuesday following the obstruction from the opposition bloc. Paudel was supposed to present the economic survey in the lower house ahead of the budget presentation.

Following the opposition’s allegations, Lekhak has been seeking time to respond in the House. But the opposition parties have not budged from their position. Speaker Devraj Ghimire’s attempts to bring the ruling and opposition parties to a meeting point failed on Tuesday and Wednesday as the two sides stuck to their guns. While ruling parties have been saying that Lekhak should be allowed to respond in the House, the opposition has insisted that his resignation is the bottom line.

The opposition parties have even accused Ghimire of bargaining on behalf of the ruling parties. “He [the Speaker] has been saying that he will let us address the House only if we allow the home minister to present his clarification,” said Ganesh Parajuli, a RSP lawmaker.

On May 22, the Commission for the Investigation on Abuse of Authority raided the Tribhuvan International Airport Immigration Office following complaints of visit visa manipulation. Lekhak has been dragged into controversy after the constitutional anti-graft body detained the chief of immigration, Tirtharaj Bhattarai, who is a joint secretary under the Home Ministry, and seized vital documents.

Following Bhattarai’s arrest, the anti-graft body has also begun investigating staff from the home minister’s secretariat, raising questions about Lekhak’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 individuals were sent abroad on visit visas in exchange for large sums of money, in collusion with Bhattarai. Bhattarai’s transfer to the home ministry while he was under investigation has fuelled suspicions of higher authorities’ involvement in the scam.

Lekhak, however, has rubbished the allegations, asking how he can be held responsible for the act he never committed. “Is there any complaint against me? Is any agency investigating me?” Lekhak said during a press meet on Wednesday. “What is the point of dragging me into a matter which is not linked to me in any way?”

Lekhak claimed he had demanded the resignation of the then Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane last year as there were several cases lodged against Lamichhane but that was not the case with him. Last year, the Nepali Congress had obstructed the House seeking the resignation of Lamichhane, who had complaints in four districts related to cooperative frauds.

Lekhak added that linking him to the visit visa scam was an ‘injustice’. “I should also get justice,” he said. “Can’t I seek justice for myself?”

Despite the pressure from the opposition, however, the CPN-UML and the Congress are adamant that neither will Lekhak resign nor will a probe committee be formed.

The discussion between Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the Congress top leadership including President Sher Bahadur Deuba on Wednesday concluded that there was no reason for Lekhak to resign.

“There is no reason for the home minister to resign,” said UML Chief Whip Mahesh Bartaula. “It is also undemocratic and unparliamentary to prevent him from offering clarification on the allegations against him.” Bartaula said the opposition can make its point if it is not satisfied with the clarification but demanding resignation without even listening to Lekhak was unacceptable.

The next meeting of the House has been called for Thursday at 1:30 pm. The budget will be presented at 3 in the afternoon.