Leaders of various parties and intellectuals unanimously opposed the idea of indirect elections for Sarpanch posts and said such a move would lead to camp politics and horse-trading.
Addressing a round table meeting of the Sarpanches Joint Action Committee on ‘Amendments to the Panchayat Raj Act’ here on Saturday, TPCC chief N. Uttam Kumar Reddy sounded alarm bells about the ruling party taking its “horse-trading tactics” down to the ward member level.
Cautioning that democracy is in danger in Telangana, Mr. Reddy said from the last four budgets, totalling up to ₹5 lakh crore, not a rupee had been devolved to the panchayats. “Instead, their central funds were diverted in the name of power bill and water bill dues,” he said.
TRS government has turned all the posts of local self governance into proxies and aided centralisation of power rather than decentralisation, Mr. Reddy criticised.
“The Chief Minister wants federal spirit when it comes to Centre-State relations, but ignores the same when it comes to local bodies,” he said. He also opposed the proposal to advance panchayat elections to February.
Congress party would hold meetings in all panchayats and send resolutions to the government, he assured.
TDP legislator R. Krishnaiah called indirect elections a ploy to undermine the emerging leadership from weaker sections. It would lead to kidnaps and corruption, besides political uncertainty and insecurity among Sarpanches, he claimed.
Mr. Krishnaiah warned of mass movements if the government attempted to hold indirect elections.
CPI state secretary Chada Venkat Reddy said such elections would turn villages into battlefields and announced the party’s support to the JAC.
Former MLC K. Nageshwar said that the Constitution allowed the same powers to local governments as it did to State and Central governments. Indirect elections would force Sarpanches to devote their time to keeping the ward members happy, rather than planning village development.
Mr. Nageshwar also questioned the rationale in having a panchayat for a population of 500 and said such a move would hit the self-reliance of local bodies. He also opposed early elections to Panchayats.
TJAC chairperson M. Kodandaram said leadership from village-based weaker sections, which has been emerging over last 20 years, would take a hit by indirect elections.
He said the government, which had initially announced implementation of the farm subsidy scheme through Farmers’ Coordination Committees, had to include Sarpanches in the process after protests. The latest idea about indirect elections should be seen in this light, he added.
If amendments to the Panchayat Raj Act are seen as necessary, Mr. Kodandaram said a committee should be constituted to pore over the proposal.
Academic and activist G. Haragopal observed that the proposal for amending the Act towards enabling no-confidence motion against Sarpanches would lead to chaos in the context of reserved posts.
It has always been the tradition to constitute a committee when amendments were proposed to PR Act and deviating from it to implement a single man’s decision would be dangerous to democracy, Mr. Haragopal said and called for pressure from below against the decision.
