Nepali Congress (NC) has padlocked the Pokhara Metropolitan City office and demonstrated in front of the office stating that the metropolis has allocated smaller budget in the wards won by the party.

The NC ward chairmen have accused Mayor Man Bahadur GC, who is from CPN, of allocating budget only in the areas where his party has won. “Budget allocated in the wards won by NC is lower than that allocated last year,” Chairman of Ward No 9 Ram Raj Lamichhane said. “There is disparity in budget allocation. Our protest will continue until the budget is corrected.”

He claimed that the wards won by NC contribute 80 percent in revenues of the metropolis but have been discriminated against in budget allocation. “We generate more revenues and budget is allocated elsewhere. We have torn the red book,” he fumed.

The NC ward chairmen have also accused CPN of bringing the budget targeting the upcoming by-election for Kaski 2 that remains vacant after death of Rabindra Adhikari.

The metropolis has already passed the budget on the basis of majority despite protest by NC. The 170-strong municipal council of Pokhara has 48 members from NC.

The protest by representatives elected on NC tickets has affected service delivery in the metropolis.

Mayor GC claimed that budget has been allocated in proportional manner. “There is no discrimination in budget,” GC told Setopati. “There is no need to correct it when there is nothing wrong in the budget.”

NC ward chairmen including Lamichhane, Shankar Bastola and Mohan Bastola have accused GC of using foul language against them. “There is no need for me to use foul language. They have used it against me instead. The whole world has watched the video. They should apologize for using foul language,” GC argued.

The protesting ward chairmen have claimed that GC told them they should come to the place where he is to get projects, and demanded that he should apologize for that.