Himal Press 
This combo photo shows Madhesh Speaker Ram Chandra Mandal and Deputy Speaker Babita Kumari Raut Ishar.
KATHMANDU: Deputy Speaker of Madhesh Province Office, Babita Kumari Raut Ishar, has vacated her official residence inside the Madhesh Province Assembly premises, citing security concerns.
She left her residence on the advice of security agencies, citing mounting tensions within the assembly and incidents of lawmakers being confined inside offices.
Tensions have escalated between Speaker Ram Chandra Mandal and Deputy Speaker Ishar following the submission of a motion to remove the Speaker.
The conflict intensified after leaders of seven political parties, including the Nepali Congress (NC), reached the Provincial Assembly Secretariat on Thursday with the motion.
A total of 64 lawmakers from the seven parties submitted the proposal, accusing Speaker Mandal of conduct unbecoming of his office.
Deputy Speaker Ishar had assigned staff to register the motion.
While leaders of these parties have claimed that the motion has been formally registered, Speaker Mandal argues that the Deputy Speaker has no authority to assign staff for its registration.
Shortly after the motion was submitted to the Secretariat, Speaker Mandal late Thursday removed five provincial assembly members from their positions for missing 10 consecutive assembly meetings.
According to a notice issued by the Provincial Assembly Secretariat, those dismissed on Thursday include Manish Kumar Suman, Sanjay Kumar Yadav, Singhasan Sah Kalwar and Sarda Shankar Prasad Kalwar of Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) Nepal, and Urmila Devi Singh of Nagarik Unmukti Party.
The Speaker’s move to strip the lawmakers of their positions is widely viewed as an attempt to block the motion to remove him.
Calling the action vindictive, Deputy Speaker Ishar overturned the decision on Friday. She issued a notice stating that the dismissal of the five members had been annulled. Ishar has argued that once an impeachment motion is registered, the Speaker is automatically suspended, making his decisions invalid.
Speaker Mandal, however, insists that no motion has been registered. “They are spreading a rumor that a motion has been filed to remove me,” he told Himal Press over the phone. “At least 27 signatures are required for registration. They brought signatures of the chief whips of the seven parties. The proposal is invalid. There is no question of registration.”
Officials at the Provincial Assembly Secretariat have refused to comment. Phones of several key staff members, including Secretary Basu Prasad Koirala, Information Officer Homanath Pahadi, and Under-Secretaries Bipin Kumar Thakur and Surendra Kumar Karna, were switched off when Himal Press reached out for comments.
Meanwhile, two assembly members removed by the Speaker—Sanjay Kumar Yadav and Urmila Devi Singh—on Friday filed an application at the Secretariat requesting certified attendance records. They have demanded copies of the attendance sheets and documents for all five members for the past year.
