Tension flared up in Dhangadhi on Sunday as students protesting provisions of the proposed local government bill clashed with members of Nepal Tarun Dal, the youth wing of ruling Nepali Congress.

The protesters removed and threw away Congress flags placed along the road in front of the office of the Sudurpashchim chief minister. Tarun Dal had installed the flags to welcome Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and other senior leaders arriving for the party's Sudurpashchim conference on Monday.

Students staging a sit-in at the Chief Minister’s Office uprooted the flags, angering Congress supporters, leading to a brief scuffle between the two sides. The police quickly intervened to restore order.

The students oppose the “Bill to regulate the local service formation, operation and service conditions, 2025,” arguing that its provisions favour a select group of temporary and contract-based employees by allowing them to compete exclusively through the Provincial Public Service Commission.

Chief Minister Kamal Bahadur Shah has already pledged to remove the controversial provisions.