Centre vs South: Kerala, Tamil Nadu join Karnataka in protest against Centre over alleged financial injustice in Delhi today

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan along with other state legislators begin marching towards Jantar Mantar from Kerala House in Delhi.

Leaders from three states including Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are in Delhi to protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government over alleged discrimination in the federal funds allocated to their states.

On February 7, top Congress leaders from Karnataka, led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah held a protest in the national capital against the Centre over alleged injustice to the southern state in devolution of taxes, sparking a fierce slugfest between the party and the Narendra Modi government.

Joining in, Kerala's Left Front and Tamil Nadu's DMK staged separate protests in Delhi on February 8 against the BJP-led Centre. The LDF's protest, to be led by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, has the support of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also joined the protest in the national capital.

The Centre's discrimination against Kerala and the resultant financial crunch has forced the state to resort to the protest path, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said alleging that the Union government's actions have weakened cooperative federalism.

Addressing the gathering at Jantar Mantar, Vijayan said, “We are here to register our protest against central Govt over tax devolution.” While thanking all the opposition party leaders for their “support”, Vijayan said that the Centre has been “making decision” without “seeking states’ opinion”.

The DMK said that in the Interim Budget, there was no announcement on Tamil Nadu's representation seeking relief to the tune of about Rs 37,000 crore following the cyclone, unprecedented rains and flood in December 2023. Also, there was no announcement in the Interim Budget on fund allocation for Tamil Nadu's development projects, including the establishment of the AIIMS in Madurai, the DMK said.

The Left government in Kerala, which has been blaming the Centre for the state's financial woes, had in its Budget attacked the Union government stating that it was pushing the southern state towards the worst financial crisis in its history. The UDF had declined to take part in the protest by saying it does not agree with the Left narrative blaming the Centre for all of the state's financial problems.

(With PTI inputs)