Kerala's ruling party LDF stages protest in Delhi against Centre, decries governors' overreach

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan accused the central government of not giving states their due share of taxes.

New Delhi: A day after the Congress government in Karnataka brought its protest to Delhi, the Left-led government in Kerala held a protest here to “protect federalism” and against the Modi government's “neglect” towards the southern state on financial matters.

The protest saw Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann, Tamil Nadu Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan, National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah and independent MP Kapil Sibal in attendance, in what was projected as a counter to allegations of creating 'north-south' divide.

Addressing the protesters, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, "multinational agreements are being entered into on issues that affect the states, without seeking the states' opinion, let alone getting their consent. These are all telling examples of how the rights of states are being trampled upon and how India is being changed into an undemocratic 'Union over States'."

"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. While there has been a rapid rise in the union government's revenue earned through cess and surcharge, not a single penny of it is shared with the states," he said.

Kejriwal said governments led by opposition parties represent 70 crore people but 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...ED is a new weapon for them," he said.

Referring to former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren's arrest, he added, "they can arrest even me, Pinarayi Vijayan or MK Stalin. They can arrest anyone and send him to jail to topple the government. They even tried to topple the Jharkhand government but they could not."

CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury found fault with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's accusation that the opposition was trying to create a north-south divide as he cited the presence of Delhi and Punjab Chief Ministers in protest organised by Kerala government leaders. This shows that there is no such division, he said.

"The prime minister said the opposition is trying to create a north-south divide. The prime minister needs to understand India's geography. Mr Kejriwal is not south, Mr Mann is not south, Mr Farooq Abdullah from Kashmir is not south. Perhaps he does not know about the geography of India. This is not a north-south fight, it is for the rights given by the Constitution," he said.

CPI General Secretary D Raja added, "The Prime Minister says the opposition is dividing the country into north and south.... It is you who is dividing people in the name of religion and caste. Now, you are dividing the country into north-south...According to the Constitution, India should remain a secular, democratic, republican State. But you are trying to make it a theocratic State. Do you think we will keep quiet?"

Separately, DMK and Congress MPs protested in Parliament against the union government over non allocation of requisite funds to Tamil Nadu in the interim budget. DMK MPs participated in the Lok Sabha proceedings wearing black robes.