KATHMANDU: Ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) lawmaker Jhapat Rawal in the House of Representatives on Tuesday protested the unfair allocation of budget for the next fiscal year in a unique way.

Tuesday’s HoR meeting was held to discuss budget allocation for the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Urban Development and Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Rawal, who represents Kailali Constituency No 2, suddenly fell silent while giving inputs on the Ministry of Urban Development’s budget allocation. He was at the podium and kept silent for about one-and-a-half minutes. When Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara asked Rawal to speak, he replied that there was nothing to speak.

After a while, Mahara asked him to conclude his silent protest, but Rawal ignored him and continued looking at his watch, prompting NC lawmakers to clap.

However, ruling NCP lawmakers and Minister of Urban Development Mohamed Istiyak Rai were visibly irked by Rawal’s unique protest.

Rawal told THT that the MoUD had allocated nothing for his constituency.

“The budget has been allocated only for districts and constituencies of ministers,” he said.

In February, Nepali Congress lawmaker Uma Regmi, who was elected through the proportional representation electoral system, tore the operation manual related to Implementation of Local Infrastructure Development Partnership Programmes, also known as pork barrel fund, in the HoR to oppose ‘discrimination’ against lawmakers elected through the PR system.