BANGALORE: In an interesting political development on the eve of the final phase of elections to the zilla and taluk panchayats, Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh is facing opposition from his party leaders to his proposal to extend the Congress's alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular) to panchayats if the party falls short of a majority in any of them.

Mr. Dharam Singh made the proposal when he was addressing presspersons in Gulbarga on Wednesday.

V.S. Ugrappa, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson and MLC, said KPCC President M. Mallikarjun Kharge is against an alliance between the Congress and the Janata Dal (S) in panchayats. The Congress will secure a majority in most of the zilla and taluk panchayats and there will be no need for an alliance, he said.

`Voters being misled'

Mr. Ugrappa alleged that former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda has been misleading voters by claiming that the credit for the decision to supply 25 kg of foodgrains at a subsidised rate of Rs. 3 a kg to 70 lakh poor families should go to the Janata Dal (S). The Janata Dal (S) has also claimed that it was responsible for the decision to grant farm loans at six per cent interest through cooperative institutions. The programmes were promised by the Congress in its manifesto for the 2004 Assembly elections and not by the Janata Dal (S), Mr. Ugrappa said.

On alleged anti-party activities of former Minister Baburao Chavan, Mr. Ugrappa said he has given a call to the Lambani community to vote against Congress candidates because the party denied him a ticket in the last Assembly election.

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