A day after a protest by members of the Karnataka government, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the state's ministers, and people's representatives staged a protest at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar against the Centre's alleged discrimination against the states over the allocation of funds.
"Kerala has lost ₹1,07,513 crores in the last seven financial years. We tried everything; we sent letters to the Centre, spoke to leaders, tried to convince the PM [Narendra Modi]. But it all failed. That is why we are here today," said CM Vijayan, addressing a gathering at the 'Fight to Protect Federalism' protest on Thursday, 8 February.
Joining him in solidarity were Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, Tamil Nadu Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, former Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, and lawyer Kapil Sibal, among others.
'Not Politically Motivated,' Says CM Vijayan
Accusing the BJP-led central government of "destroying federalism" and "constantly neglecting the states," CM Vijayan said:
"There are some who alleged that this protest in Delhi is politically motivated. In reality, it is that allegation that is politically motivated. This protest is against the denial of what is rightfully ours. Isn't it a fact that our borrowings have been limited? That our grants have been denied? How is it politically motivated to point that out?"
He added that it was not just Kerala that is protesting against the political discrimination against the states. "Karnataka has also come out in protest. They say that they suffered losses to the tune of Rs 1,87,000 crores – a loss that is similar to that of Kerala."
The Kerala CM further said that "efforts are also on by certain sections to depict this issue as a north-south divide. It is totally untrue, unfounded, and baseless."
"Ours is a democratic protest against the undoing of federal structure and the sheer discrimination against the states, irrespective of north-south considerations. Taking into consideration the interests of our people, we cannot be quiet."
CM Vijayan also referred to the state government's ongoing tussle with Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed, saying:
"In many states, including Kerala, we have seen Governors trying to overreach their constitutional mandate by meddling with the autonomy of the legislature. Assent to bills passed by Legislative Assemblies is indefinitely delayed. The Supreme Court did warn the Governors they were playing with fire. But they continue to play their political glames."
'Are We Not Citizens of This Country?' Asks Kejriwal
Addressing the gathering, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said:
"Half of the country is represented by Opposition governments. But it looks like the central government has launched a war on Opposition governments. Do you not see the people of these states as your own? Do you not see the people of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Delhi, Punjab, West Bengal, and other states as your own? Are they not citizens of this country?"
"If the people of Kerala are not given the funds they deserve, then how will they run the government? We are not here to beg. Vijayan saab has not come here to ask money for his family. He has come here to ask funds for the people of his state – like all of us," Kejriwal added.
Meanwhile, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann said they came to Jantar Mantar to "to demand our rights. We need our GST, NHM, RDF scheme money. You cannot stop the money from reaching us."
"In order to save the country, it is very important for all of us to united," he further said.
"The BJP is nowhere in Punjab... Out of the 117 MLAs, 92 are AAP MLAs. The BJP has 2 MLAs... Where they are not in Opposition, the Governor becomes the Opposition. He keeps writing letters to the government. I have not seen Gujarat and UP's Governor write letters to CMs. But it happens in Kerala, Tamil Nadu..."
On Chandigarh Mayoral polls, Mann said: "While counting 36 votes, 8 votes were cancelled. Almost 25 percent of the votes were declared invalid. In May/June, they have to count 90 crore votes, I am worried what they will do then."
'Deprived of Our Share of Funding': PTR
Tamil Nadu IT Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, or PTR as he commonly known, said he was taking part in the protest on behalf of Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin.
"This is a vital expression of protest against the unfair, unjust, immoral, and ultimately self-destructive deprivation of funds to Opposition states," he said.
Pointing out some examples, he said:
"First, is the use of Article 293(B) of the Constitution for the Finance Ministry of the Union Government of India to override the legislative powers of the states. Second, they also use unfairly low estimates of the GSDP of our states, and therefore set a limit of 3 percent or 3.5 percent of a much lower GSDP than those actually realised."
He added, "Our CM has already pointed out the many ways in which we are deprived of our share of funding, primarily starting with the excessive use of surcharges and cesses where the Government of India does not share those revenues with the states, but instead – at its own discretion – decides how it should be distributed."
"At one time, Tamil Nadu used to get about 70 percent of its revenue from the Union's share of taxes and 30 percent under central schemes. Now, we get less than half our revenues from the share of taxes and the other half from central schemes," he pointed out.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)