Deadlock persists in the House of Representatives as the ruling alliance firmly stands against the opposition’s demand for the constitution of the probe committee and resignation of Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak over the visit visa scam.

The House meeting called for Tuesday was postponed for Wednesday after the opposition bloc said it would resort to obstruction unless the probe committee is formed and the home minister resigns subsequently.

The ruling party, however, insisted that Lekhak should unconditionally be allowed to clarify the allegations against him in the House.

There was no progress in finding a meeting point on Wednesday as well, leading to the deferral of the meeting that was supposed to hold deliberations on the national budget, for Thursday.

Speaker Devraj Ghimire’s efforts to create an environment for resumption of the House failed as both the sides did not budge from their stance.

“Human trafficking is a serious matter. The obstruction will not be lifted unless a probe committee is formed,” said CPN (Maoist Centre) chief whip Hitraj Pandey. “We also have not given up our demand for the home minister’s resignation.”

The ruling alliance, however, says Lekhak should be allowed to present his clarification first. “There is no rationale in the demand for the home minister’s resignation or formation of a probe committee, as they [opposition] want, without allowing him to clarify,” said Mahesh Bartaula, CPN-UML chief whip.

Since May 27, the opposition has been obstructing the lower house accusing Lekhak’s involvement in the scam and demanding his resignation.

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. Joint Secretary 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.