A letter that Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's special envoy Bimalendra Nidhi handed over to India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has created a rift between the government and the main opposition party.
The main opposition UML has criticised the government for inviting 'foreign intervention in Nepal' through this letter. However, the ruling coalition of the Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist-Centre) claims Nidhi had merely presented 'a letter of credential' to Modi during his India visit last month.
In a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee of International Relations and Labour on Friday, UML leader Bhim Rawal asked the government to inform the House about the content of the letter. "We are not saying our Prime Minister should not write a letter to India's Prime Minister," he said. "But there are (media) reports that the letter broaches the topic of amending our constitution, so it should be made public."
Nidhi, who is also Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, claimed that it was merely 'a letter of credential'. He said: "There is nothing about our constitution in the letter, and the opposition is trying to create something out of nothing."
Rawal replied: "If the letter is not made public, we will have to trust media reports that the government invited foreign intervention in our internal affairs through this letter."
Early this week, Nidhi and Rawal had engaged themselves in a heated dispute during an all-party meeting hosted by Prime Minister Dahal in Baluwatar.