The agitation for establishment of a permanent High Court Bench at Brahmapur is no longer confined to the members of the Ganjam Bar as it is gradually spreading among other sections of people of Ganjam district.

“We will collectively fight and take the agitation to a new height,” said 32 corporators of the Brahmapur Municipal Corporation (BMC) and leaders of 15 trade unions and commercial establishments at a meeting here on Friday. This agitation should not be politicised in the interests of Ganjam people, they pleaded.

The Ganjam Bar members are now set to expand the agitation to the whole district instead of closing the local courts on the last four days of the month, said a senior lawyer.

A meeting was held on Friday in which the Ganjam Bar Association president Basanta Kumar Panda explained the significance of the agitation. At this meeting, leaders of the 15 other associations extended their support for the stir.

The prominent participants included Chamber of Commerce secretary Santosh Kumar Sahu, Mahan Sangh president Susant Kumar Sabat, OSRTC Employees’ Association president Upendra Mishra, Primary Teachers’ Association leader Rajendra Panda and Brahmapur Viswavidyalaya Karmachari Sangh president Susanta Mohapatra. The corporators agreed to take up the issue at the next BMC meeting and to send a resolution to the State Government, sources said.

All the Bar Associations of undivided Ganjam district have been invited to attend an emergency meeting to be held on Saturday to chalk out the further strategy of the agitation.