KATHMANDU: At least three complaints have been lodged at the Parliamentary Hearing Special Committee (PHSC) against proposed ambassador to India, Deep Kumar Upadhyay.

All of them were submitted through emails by anonymous complainants.

Leela Mani Paudyal, proposed ambassador to China, received just a complaint against him. It is also not actually a complaint, as the person has just sought his property details.

The House panel opened the complaint box amid a meeting today. Earlier, on September 7, the PHSC had called for complaints— if there is any— against the nominees picked for key diplomatic positions.

Complaints against Upadhyay have asked him why he received an award from the Indian government when he was Nepal’s envoy to India earlier and why he refrained from making a public statement against India’s ‘blockade’. In another complaint, his eligibility to become an envoy has been questioned as he is a veteran leader of the Nepali Congress party.

If he was appointed an ambassador, his allegiance would be shifted towards his own party, rather than the government in the charge or the nation, the complainant has claimed.

The House panel, meanwhile, has decided to summon all complainants for discussion for September 28.

The date for parliamentary hearing with the proposed envoys would be fixed, after that according to Kul Bahadur Gurung, Chairman of PHSC.

Earlier, on September 1, the Cabinet had recommended Upadhyay and Paudyal for New Delhi and Beijing missions respectively.

Upadhyay, who was appointed the Ambassador to India by the Sushil Koirala-led government, was recalled by the erstwhile KP Sharma Oli-led government.

The Oli-led government had recommended CPN-UML leader Mahendra Bahadur Pandey for ambassadorship in the northern neighbour. The new government led by CPN Maoist Centre Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, however, had withdrawn the recommendation.