Bangalore: The Congress has decided to launch an agitation against the coalition Government's move to revoke the powers of gram panchayats to implement 29 programmes and entrust the powers to legislators.

Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly N. Dharam Singh, who made the announcement, however, said at a press conference here on Friday that legislators, including those from his party, had supported the move in the legislature, but the previous Congress-Janata Dal (S) government headed by him did not oblige them. Unfortunately, the Bharatiya Janata Party-JD(S) Government had yielded to pressure from the legislators and was diluting the powers of the gram panchayats. It was against the spirit of the Belur Declaration, he said.

Mr. Singh urged the Government to give up the proposal. Otherwise the State was going to lose Central funds earmarked for panchayati raj institutions as had happened on several occasions earlier.

The agitation, he said, would be launched from villages involving gram panchayat members cutting across party lines and would create public opinion against the move. He urged the Government against meddling with the panchayati raj movement.

BMIC project

About the Supreme Court judgment on the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor project, he urged the Government to encourage the project and develop infrastructure in the State to cope with the increasing traffic due to industrialisation. Added to this, Mysore was also attracting tourists, especially during the Dasara festivities. He advised political parties against obstructing infrastructure projects on flimsy grounds.

He said the Supreme Court had ruled that the project did not intend to develop real estate as alleged by Janata Dal (S) national president H.D. Deve Gowda. The court had imposed a fine of Rs. 5 lakh on the State Government.

He accused Mr. Deve Gowda of creating hurdles for his government whenever he had wanted to implement development activities. He said he would release the letters written by Mr. Deve Gowda to the Government and explain the problems created by the JD(S) leader in the 20 months that he led the government.

All-party meet sought

Reiterating his demand that the Government convene an all-party meeting to discuss the Belgaum issue arising out of the Maharashtra legislature resolution, Mr. Singh said Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy should take note of the dangerous implications of Maharashtra's move. He should not forget that the Minister Manmohan Singh might be taken in by the argument of the Maharashtra delegation and announce something detrimental to Karnataka's interests. It was for this reason that Karnataka should meet the Prime Minister soon. In case the Government failed to discharge its duty, then the Opposition parties would do it on their own as they could not shirk their responsibility.

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