The Madhes Provincial Assembly remained paralysed for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday, as opposition parties continued to obstruct proceedings in protest against the provincial budget, which they allege is heavily influenced by middlemen.

Speaker Ramchandra Mandal adjourned the assembly until 1 pm Thursday after opposition lawmakers disrupted the session. Despite being scheduled for 1 pm, Wednesday’s sitting could not begin until nearly 3:45 pm.

Even then, the meeting lasted only four minutes before the speaker called for another postponement.

Ram Ashish Yadav, chief whip of the Janata Samajbadi Party, remarked that the absence of ruling party lawmakers from the assembly indicated dissatisfaction within the government’s own ranks regarding the budget.

An all-party meeting was convened earlier in the day in an effort to break the impasse, but it ended without any agreement.

Speaker Mandal had proposed forming a task force to investigate the concerns raised over the budget, but the ruling coalition reportedly rejected the idea.

Since the budget was tabled by the Madhes government on June 15, the assembly has failed to function properly. The last discussion on the budget took place on June 25 and lasted just 23 minutes.

Despite being called four times since, each meeting has been disrupted by opposition members.

The next assembly meeting is scheduled for Thursday at 1 pm.