Kathmandu, May 12 -- Opposition parties have sharply criticised Prime Minister Balendra Shah after he walked out of a joint sitting of the federal parliament while President Ram Chandra Paudel was presenting the government's policies and programmes for the upcoming fiscal year.

Leaders from the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML, Nepali Communist Party (NCP) and other parties said the prime minister's conduct undermined parliamentary dignity. The controversy has intensified pressure on the nearly two-thirds majority government formed after the March 5 election of the House of Representatives.

The row erupted after Shah attended Monday's joint session only briefly before leaving the House around 50 minutes after President Paudel began reading ...