The decision of Prof G.D. Agarwal, who has been on a 'fast unto death' for the past week against power projects on the Ganga, to direct his agitation against the Central government following the shelving of two power projects by the BJP state government has politicised the issue. While Agarwal refused to end his fast and decided to target the Union government, the Uttarakhand Congress leaders alleged that the 'Sangh Parivar' has hijacked his agitation for their petty political interests. Interestingly, the state government has promised to support him in his fight against the Centre. Earlier, the state cabinet reversed its own decision taken four days ago on the advice of the top BJP leadership and decided to put on hold two of its projects on the Bhagirathi, upstream of Uttarkashi, last evening. Agarwal welcomed the decision but refused to end his fast. "Now, I will fight against the closure of the 600 MW Lohari Nagpala project being undertaken by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), a central government undertaking," he said. The two projects that have been put on hold include the 480 MW Pala Maneri and 300 MW Bhaironghati phase I & II projects. These projects were to be built by the state government. Already work on the 480MW Pala Maneri project had started. Now, it is the turn of the Congress leaders to come out screaming following the decision of Agarwal to agitate against union government. "The agitation by Agarwal has been hijacked by 'Sangh Parivar' who wanted to rake up the issue before Lok Sabha polls to embarrass the Congress," said Suryakant Dhasmana, a senior Congress leader. "The sewage of all ashrams run by 'Sangh Parivar' swamis pollutes the Ganga. They have no credentials to talk about the Ganga. Where were they when Tehri dam came up?" alleged Kishore Upadhaya, Congress legislator from Tehri.