Nepali Congress (NC) lawmakers have accused the government of targeting NC lawmakers.
NC President Sher Bahadur Deuba allowed lawmakers from both the House of Representatives (HoR) and the National Assembly to speak on seven issues during the parliamentary party meeting on Friday.
Many lawmakers questioned arrest of lawmaker Sunil Sharma by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police on Thursday during the meeting.
The CIB arrested Sharma for investigation on the charge of forging his academic certificate.
Pointing that NC leaders Bal Krishna Khand and Bijay Kumar Gachchhadar have been charged in fake Bhutanese refugees scam and Baluwatar land grab scam respectively they expressed suspicion about the latest arrest of Sharma.
During a recent House meeting, Sharma had demanded resignation of Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha and Finance Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat, who is also NC spokesperson, for investigation of the recent gold smuggling case.
NC lawmakers Arjun Narsingh KC asked whether Sharma was arrested for that. Another lawmaker Gyanendra Bahadur Karki also pointed that the issue of Sharma's academic certificate was already concluded. "Lawmaker Sharma was investigated over academic certificate even in the past. This is an issue that was resolved then. Why has he been arrested again?" Karki asked.
Lawmaker Uday Shumsher Rana also asked why NC leaders like Khand, Gachchhadar and Sharma were being targeted even though the grand old party is in the government. "Why was Madhav Kumar Nepal, implicated in Lalita Niwas land scam, allowed to go abroad? Why was his statement not recorded?"
"The government has been slamming different charges on our leaders. Are Maoist leaders clean? They have also been linked in different scams. Why has the government not investigated them? The leadership must seek answers from the prime minister on the issue," lawmaker Sarita Prasai demanded.
Lawmaker Pradip Paudel said there would be no problem if the corruption files were opened sincerely but a single party should not be targeted. "It would be grave if there seems to be a situation of prejudice where persons from a certain party are punished but leaders from their party are spared even if facts and evidence of the same level are found," he stressed.
He demanded that all the scams after 2006--when the Maoists signed the peace deal to join mainstream politics--should be fairly investigated. "We are also looking into the allegations against Sunil Sharma. He had recently spoken about gold smuggling. There are also suspicions whether he was arrested keeping that at the center."
Other lawmakers also raised questions about arrest of lawmaker Sharma when the House session was on and demanded that Home Minister Shrestha should answer to the House and the public about arrest of Sharma.
Chief Whip Ramesh Lekhak said that the meeting also discussed about House obstruction, floods and landslides, lumpy skin disease and other problems faced by farmers, and control of dengue and conjunctivitis among others.
