The Central government’s “financial embargo” on Kerala and the Opposition’s “disinclination” to wholeheartedly support the ruling front’s fight to restore the State’s federal rights found strong resonance in Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal’s Budget speech in the Assembly on Monday.
Given the strife in Europe and West Asia, the omen of a global economic recession set a grim geopolitical backdrop to Kerala’s financial plan for 2024-25.
The government also appeared to fire the starting gun for the Lok Sabha election campaign by harping about Kerala’s prospective emergence as a sunrise economy.
However, its opening shot in what is predicted to be a bitterly fought election battle appeared to lack a populist bang.
For one, the government did not drop the special cess on fuel and liquor or hike social welfare pensions, a manifesto commitment.
Instead, Mr. Balagopal pivoted to blame the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government for Kerala’s fiscal woes and said the administration would not cut back on social welfare schemes despite being under severe budgetary duress.
Mr. Balagopal also sought to conjure up a rally around the flag sentiment by positing a political plot to perforate Kerala’s resilient social security net by squarely blaming the Union government for denying the State its share of national revenue and arbitrarily hauling down the provincial administration’s borrowing limit.
He said the conspirators aspired to turn people who depend on welfare pensions, State-run hospitals and ration shops against “their own” government.
Subsistence-level farmers, labourers, fishers, agriculture workers and marginalised sections of society, who traditionally hewed to the LDF, formed the bulk of the beneficiaries. “The goal is to turn us against ourselves,” Mr. Balagopal said.
He used the Budget speech to issue a clarion call to Keralites to rally behind the government as it prepared to march to New Delhi to protest the Centre’s alleged trespasses on fiscal federalism.
“Kerala will not be shattered. Kerala will not tire. Kerala cannot be destroyed” appeared to be Mr. Balagopal’s rallying cry for political action to protect the foundational ideals of cooperative federalism.
He placed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the vanguard of Kerala’s struggle to create a modern State. He wondered whether the “flurry of abuse against” the latter was warranted.
He said the Congress-led Opposition had woken up belatedly to Centre’s trespasses on fiscal federalism. However, Mr Balagopal appeared to hold out an olive branch to the UDF by inviting them to join the protest against the Centre’s apathy.
