MYSORE: There was high drama at Udbur village near here on Thursday when policemen prevented Congress leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah from laying the foundation stone of a community hall to be built by the Mysore Zilla Panchayat.

Hundreds of policemen stood guard at the venue in Udbur village, 10 km. from here, when Mr Siddaramaiah arrived there along with zilla panchayat vice-president K. Mari Gowda and other members and officials of the panchayat.

The police told Mr. Siddaramaiah and the members that they had received instructions that Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy would lay the foundation stone for the community hall. Tension prevailed at the venue when Mr. Siddaramaiah's followers entered into an altercation with the policemen for preventing them from going ahead with the programme taken up by the zilla panchayat, which is controlled by the All India Progressive Janata Dal (AIPJD). Apparently angry over the tight security at the venue and imposition of Section 144, Mr. Siddaramaiah wondered whether the Government had created a "police State". "This is a project taken up by the zilla panchayat. The vice-president of the zilla panchayat and other elected members and officials are here. How can you prevent us from going ahead with the programme?" Mr. Siddaramaiah asked. But the policemen contended that they were following official instructions. After criticising the Government for playing "petty politics", Mr. Siddaramaiah and his followers left the venue.

Later, addressing a gathering, Mr. Siddaramaiah criticised the Government for not allowing the foundation stone laying ceremony.

AHINDA youth wing president M. Appanna said the Government had no right to interfere in the work of the zilla panchayat. Mr. Mari Gowda to The Hindu that the villagers wanted Mr. Siddaramaiah to lay the foundation stone for the community hall. He accused district in-charge Minister D.T. Jayakumar of playing spoilsport to please Mr. Kumaraswamy..

The zilla panchayat had taken up work on the community hall at a cost of Rs. 20 lakh. While M.A.M. Ramaswamy, Rajya Sabha MP, had sanctioned Rs. 15 lakh for the project from his MPLAD fund, the zilla panchayat would bear the rest, Mr. Mari Gowda said.

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