Kathmandu, Aug 13 - The use of the Hindi language for official work was dealt a second blow by the Nepal government Thursday with most of the ruling parties saying that Vice President Paramananda Jha, who triggered a controversy by taking his oath of office in Hindi, should be sworn in again in the Nepali language.

Ahead of his five-day visit to India starting from Aug 18, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal had Thursday called a meeting of the 22 parties in the coalition government to discuss political developments.

Among the pressing items on the agenda was the controversial oath taken by the vice-president last year that made a nationalist lawyer challenge him in court, calling the oath unconstitutional.

Last month, Nepal's Supreme Court gave its verdict, upholding petitioner Bal Krishna Neupane's contention and ordering the vice-president to take the oath again in Nepali.

However, the directive was questioned by Jha, who alleged that the verdict was biased. The beleaguered vice-president also said that he would not be coerced into taking the oath again in Nepali.

Jha's outburst against the court resulted in a fresh contempt of court petition against him initiated by two men and the apex court Wednesday asked the government to explain why the vice president had yet not been re-administered oath of office in Nepali.