NEW DELHI, Feb 8
The ruling LDF alliance in Kerala, led by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday, held a protest in the national capital against the alleged neglect by the Centre towards the southern state in financial matters.
The chief minister, LDF MPs, MLAs and senior Left Front leaders, including CPI general secretary D. Raja and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, marched to the Jantar Mantar from the Kerala House in the heart of New Delhi, braving the cold winter morning.
Jammu and Kashmir National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, Tamil Nadu’s Minister of Information Technology and Digital Services Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and leaders of various other Opposition parties also joined the protest at Jantar Mantar. Vijayan, speaking on the occasion, said that February 8, 2024, will be a “red letter day” in the history of the Republic of India. A democracy that was envisaged as a ‘Union of States’ is slowly and steadily being crippled into an undemocratic ‘Union over States’. “We are seeing its manifestations around the country, especially in opposition-ruled states,” he said. “We have all come together to register our strong protest against this and to preserve the federal structure of India. Today we are marking the beginning of a renewed fight that would herald a dawn of ensuring equitable treatment of the States. This fight would also strive to maintain a balance in the Centre-State relations,” Vijayan said. Vijayan charged, “Multinational agreements are being entered into on issues that affect the states, without seeking the states’ opinion, let alone getting their consent. The ‘body blow’ to the country’s federal structure is coming from the union government eating into the states’ financial resources.” Vijayan said that the same people who wax eloquent about cooperative federalism have tried to undercut the resources to be allocated to the states by the Finance Commission. “On top of that, we are seeing the Union’s allocation for their own schemes coming down year after year, while the states are being forced to chip in more and more,” he said. “Even in the interim budget that was presented a few days ago, the states are being further squeezed as the loans given for capital expenditures have been reduced,” he added. Addressing at the event, Kejriwal said, “The BJP has waged a war against the opposition-ruled states. They have created an India-Pakistan situation with us. The Centre is using all the tactics to harass the opposition governments.” Kejriwal said, “I have come here to ask for the rights of two crore people. If you do not give us funds how will we build roads, provide electricity and work for development. How can you snatch the people’s rights?” He alleged that the Centre is not giving funds to the state governments, using Governors and Lt Governors to meddle in the functioning of the state governments and unleashing central agencies on the opposition leaders.
Bhagwant Singh Mann said at a time when they should have been at their respective secretariats preparing for the budget, they are here to protest at Jantar Mantar. “We should have been at our respective secretariats and attending to work as this is the time for budget preparation.
But, here we are at Jantar Mantar asking for our rights. They have withheld Rs 5,500 crore of our funds and we had to approach the SC. “Where the BJP has no MLAs, the governors start ruling,” he alleged at the protest.
