The House of Representatives meeting scheduled to start budget deliberations was deferred on Tuesday as the ruling and opposition parties remained deadlocked over the demand for Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak’s resignation amid the visit visa scam.

While opposition parties are adamant about his resignation, the ruling parties have stood firm against it, arguing that he has been unfairly dragged into controversy. Since May 27, the opposition has been obstructing the lower house accusing Lekhak’s involvement in the scam and demanding his resignation. However, the ruling parties have been arguing that demanding Lekhak’s resignation without even allowing him to clarify the allegations is unacceptable.

This standoff has deadlocked the lower house.

The Business Advisory Committee, on Friday, had endorsed a month-long calendar with a plan to start budget discussions on Tuesday. As the opposition was firm in demanding Lekhak’s resignation, the meeting called for 11 am was delayed till 2 pm to allow time for Speaker Devraj Ghimire to discuss with the whips and chief whips of major parties. The meeting was postponed again until 4 pm without agreement in allowing the House to function. Ultimately it was deferred till 1 pm Wednesday.

“It is essential to form a high-level investigation committee or a parliamentary committee to uncover the truth of human trafficking in the name of visit visa,” said CPN (Maoist Centre) lawmaker Lekhnath Dahal. “The opposition had agreed that the home minister would clarify the allegations after representatives from all parties had spoken, provided that the government comes with terms of reference for either a judicial or parliamentary investigation committee. But the ruling alliance did not agree.” He said the home minister should distance himself from the home administration for the duration of the investigation.

The ruling bloc, however, turned down the prospect for any actions before Lekhak is allowed to clarify the matter. “When somebody is questioned, s/he has the right to clarify the allegations and that applies to the home minister as well. Allowing the minister to respond to the concerns posed before them is a parliamentary practice. It is against parliamentary practice to bar the home minister from clarification,” said CPN-UML chief whip Mahesh Bartaula. “We can discuss further only if the opposition is not satisfied with his clarification. Who knows they could be satisfied with his answers.”

The Nepali Congress has said it was unjustifiable to demand the home minister’s resignation when there is no investigation or no court case against him. “The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, which is not a government body, is probing the matter and the home minister is not under scrutiny. If the commission implicates him, he will resign,” said Bishwa Prakash Sharma, a Congress general secretary and lawmaker.

On Monday, a tripartite meeting was held between Prime Minister and UML chair KP Sharma Oli, Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba and Maoist Centre chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal but it did not reach a conclusion.

Sharma, however, said that the ruling and opposition will find common ground through dialogue.

On May 22, the CIAA 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 office, 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 CIAA 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 denied the allegations, questioning how he can be held responsible for an act he never committed. He has been arguing that there is no point in demanding his resignation when there is no complaint against him and no agency is investigating him.

“We are hopeful that the opposition parties will further discuss and agree to end the parliamentary deadlock,” said Bartaula. The budget related bills will be put to a vote on June 24 as per the House calendar.