BJP, JSP activists stage protest over diversion of panchayat funds
Police taking BJP state general secretary S Vishnuvardhan Reddy into custody
Tirupati: BJP and JSP jointly staged a protest over diversion of Panchayat funds, leaving them lifeless.
Speaking on the occasion, BJP state general secretary S Vishnuvardhan Reddy slammed the state government for diverting the Panchayat funds for its purposes weakening the Panchayats.
Even the funds allocated by the Centre for payment of electricity charges were not spared, he said, hitting hard on the state government for the diversion of Panchayat funds.
The dharna was staged at the RDO office here but police objected the activists staging the protest on the road leading to the altercation between the police and protestors resulting in the police arresting about 25 party activists including BJP state secretary Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, district president S Dayakar, leaders Samanchi Srinivas, Muni Subramanayam, Kola Anand, Viswanath and others, who were later let off in the evening.
The BJP leaders contend that police issued permission but later withdrew and wanted the activists confined to the footpath, for which they refused to agree and staged the protest as planned.
Later in a memorandum submitted to the district collector, the BJP demanded the government to stop diversion of funds provided by the Central government to the Panchayats and take steps for remitting Central funds directly to Sarpanch accounts.
The party also urged the state government to refund Rs 8,269 crore which the Centre provided to 13,369 Panchayats in the state from the financial year 2019-20 to 2022-23.
It also sought adequate steps to prevent any diversion of Central funds sanctioned to Panchayats and ensure the remittance of funds in Panchayat accounts.
Meanwhile JSP district president Dr Pasupuleti Hari Prasad in a strongly worded statement accused the state government of turning the Panchayats lifeless by diverting the funds to its account.
The Sarpanches were only puppets in the hands of government with no funds and no power making mockery of Grama Swarajya dreamt by Mahatma Gandhi, he said.
Stating that with no funds, Panchayats were not able to provide basic facilities like sanitation, he demanded the government to return Rs 8,269 crore diverted Panchayat funds to the Grama Panchayats to function vibrantly.