Bharat Jan Andolan founder and former commissioner of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Commission, Brahmadeo Sharma, justified the agitation at Kathikund in Dumka. He said it was wrong on the part of the state government to allow capitalists to start their projects in the rural areas without taking the gram sabha into confidence. Sharma said the gram sabha should be treated as the apex body and any decision on development in the rural areas of the state should not be taken without its consent.