Karnataka - Gulbarga   

Congress, JD(S) pick a fight

Special Correspondent

JD(S), BJP members prevented from entering ZP meeting hall

Fracas: Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) members of Gulbarga Zilla Panchayat involved in a heated exchange of words in Gulbarga on Thursday.

GULBARGA: There were acrimonious scenes at the zilla panchayat meeting hall here on Thursday as members belonging to the Opposition Congress and the ruling Janata Dal (Secular) almost came to blows.

While Congress members were staging a dharna outside the main entrance of the hall in protest against the Government’s intervention in functioning of the zilla panchayat, Janata Dal (Secular) and BJP members wanted to enter the hall to participate in the general body meeting convened to approve the annual action plan for 2007-08.

Congress members led by Leader of the Opposition Subash Rathod, former vice-president of the panchayat Laxmi Reddy, chairman of the Social Justice Standing Committee Shivaraj Bhasgi and others accused the Janata Dal (Secular) and BJP members of backstabbing and going back on the agreement to boycott the general body meeting and participate in the dharna.

However, the JD (S) members led by panchayat president Saibanna Neelappagol and others denied the Congress charge and said that they had only agreed to support the Congress decision to withdraw the powers of the panchayat and had not agreed to postpone or boycott the general body meeting.

Gurushant Pattedar and Nagireddy Patil of the Janata Dal (Secular) said that they had held discussions with Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Minister C.M. Udasi on the issue of the Government withdrawing the powers of the zilla panchayat to finalise the action plan for funds allocated under the 12th Finance Commission. The Minister had promised that the issue would be discussed in the July 5 session of the Assembly, they said.

The Congress members said that the general body meeting should be postponed till July 5. Even 90 days after the circular issued by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Ministry withdrawing the powers of the zilla panchayat on finalising the action plan, no guidelines had been issued on the fate of funds, they alleged.

The situation was tense for more than an hour with the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) members shouting slogans against each other. It took a turn for the worse after the arrival of Janata Dal (S) members Suresh Sajjan and former panchayat vice-president Hanumappa Naik who took exception to the Congress members preventing the entry of other members into the hall.

When Mr. Sajjan and Mr. Naik tried to push through to get into the hall, Mr. Rathod said that this kind of approach would lead to law and order problem and they would not allow the ruling party members to have their say. Mr. Sajjan and Mr. Naik challenged the Congress members to prevent them from entering the hall. At this point, the police intervened and removed the Congress members. The JD (S) and BJP members had to use boulders to break open the door that was kept locked. However, there were not enough members to hold the meeting. Chief Executive Officer P.C. Jaffer adjourned the meeting and announced that the date of the next meeting would be announced later.

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