BJP state president Bandi Sanjay said the Center had brought in a new law that grants maximum powers to the local bodies, including special funds to strengthen the development activities on the ground level. Speaking about this, he accused the TRS government of watering down the goals of village self-government by slashing the powers vested in the Sarpanches contrary to the constitutional spirit. To this end, Bandi wrote an open letter to the sarpanches of the state. The three-page letter addressed a number of issues.
Bandi says the TRS government is utterly disrespecting the 73, 74 constitutional provisions. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that his goal is to walk the path of development with the self-reliance of the villages. The BJP has made it clear that it will fully support the concerns raised by the village sarpanches for the demands made,” said Bandi. He demanded immediate release of pending bills due to Gram Panchayats.
He is currently preparing to join hands with the Sarpanches and initiate protests that are all set to begin in June. Bapughat in Langer House, Hyderabad has become the venue of the protest where the sarpanches will be wearing a black badge for 2 hours and just stand in silence. Bandi is going to plan on putting pressure on the government to pay the bills as it is delaying the disbursement of funds to the gram panchayats. The BJP claims that the Center is giving funds for the development of villages, but the state government is diverting them to other needs. He explained that in 2014, the TRS party had given assurances the guarantees given under the theme “Rural Development Panchayati Raj System”.
“The TRS government is weakening the local bodies. You are all working in good faith and even incurring debts for the development of the villages. The government has pending bills ranging from two lakh to twenty lakh rupees for each gram panchayat. They are releasing GOs stating that the bills will be paid soon, and on the other hand, the bank accounts of the government bodies are being frozen. And when questioned, they are threatening you by saying that they will deny your cheque power and suspend the bank accounts. This is humiliation. For the money, you rightfully deserve, keep fighting in the Gandhian manner. You will have the support of the BJP,” Bandi said in the letter.
He urged the farmers not to commit suicide, adding that the BJP party will always be in support of the sarpanches. “The BJP has made it clear that it is its responsibility to make the representatives of local bodies proud. Let’s develop the villages, Let’s achieve village self-government. Let’s build a utopian state,” proclaimed Bandi Sanjay, adding that the promises made in the TRS manifesto for the development of the panchayats are mere words and none of them were implemented. He further urged people to keep in mind everything that happened during these 8 years, hinting that they must be careful with the upcoming assembly elections.
