Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Central government of trying to weaken the States in violation of federal principles enshrined in the Constitution.
“The Central government which is harping on cooperative federalism is however trying to centralise powers. The Centre’s actions are tantamount to ridiculing the first Article of the Constitution which describes India as a union of States,” he said. The Chief Minister utilised the Independence Day celebrations to launch a trenchant attack on the BJP led Government.
In his more than half an hour speech, Mr. Rao said the Centre was resorting to backdoor methods in usurping the devolutions due to States in the name of cesses. “While the States should get 41 per cent of the taxes that are collected, the government is resorting to backdoor methods like imposing cess. As a result, the States are losing 11.4 per cent revenue and able to get only 29.6 per cent,” he said.
