Kathmandu, July 15 -- Sudurpaschim Province Chief Minister Kamal Bahadur Shah has dismissed four ministers representing the CPN-UML, amid a deepening dispute over the provincial budget between the ruling coalition partners.

Those removed from the cabinet are Minister for Physical Infrastructure Development Surendra Bahadur Pal, Minister for Internal Affairs and Law Hira Sarki, Minister for Land Management, Agriculture and Cooperatives Bir Bahadur Thapa, and Minister of State for Physical Infrastructure Development Nirmala Devi Saud.

The dispute between the Nepali Congress and the UML escalated after the UML rejected the budget introduced by the same government it was part of. UML lawmakers also registered an expenditure-cut motion in th...