The opposition UCPN (Maoist) prevented the finance minister Surendra Pandey from presenting the budget on Friday.
Maoist CA members snatched away the budget briefcase from minister Pandey as he was going to the dais to present the budget in parliament. The Maoist CA members roughed up the minister and some UML leaders during the tug-o-war over the briefcase that ensued.
After the Maoists picketed the rostrum, the parliamentary session was adjourned till 2 December.
Leaders of the major political parties held several rounds of meetings all day long but had failed to make any headway on the budget.
The UCPN (Maoist) and a few fringe parties objected to the government's move to amend the Interim Constitution through presidential order to speed up the budget presentation.
The Maoists had walked out of the parliamentary session during the day, accusing government of taking them for a ride. Maoist central committee member Dev Gurung said they had agreed on two thirds of the budget as half of the budget had already been released in advance. “The government is planning to present a full-fledged budget with programmes and policies, which is not acceptable,” he told reporters.
Fringe parties also criticised the decision to appeal to the head of state to remove difficulties in amending the statute. They demanded the government seek ways other than suspending constitutional provisions through the president to announce the budget.
The government had started preparations to announce the budget after top leaders had agreed to present the budget through amending the constitution following closed-door negotiations in Gokarna. However, the UCPN (Maoist) changed its mind at the eleventh hour.