The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] scented a political victory in the Congress’s decision to move an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha to spotlight the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central Government’s “fiscal hostility” towards Kerala.
Speaking to reporters in Thrissur on December 5 (Tuesday), Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan termed the motion moved by T.N. Prathapan, MP, challenging the Centre’s “politically motivated bid to strangulate the State’s finances” a welcome change of heart.
He noted that Mr. Prathapan’s move contradicted the Congress’s narrative that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s “faulty tax administration and profligacy” had precipitated the financial crisis.
Mr. Vijayan hailed “the Congress’s belated course correction”. He also welcomed the Opposition to join hands with the government to fight for Kerala’s federal rights.
Victory of Navakerala Sadas, says Balan
CPI(M)‘s central committee member A.K. Balan portrayed the Congress’s “change of heart” as a victory of the Kerala Cabinet’s public outreach programme Navakerala Sadas.
He said Mr. Vijayan and his Cabinet colleagues had swept away the fog of misinformation generated by the Congress and its allies in the corporate media by communicating directly with the people. The government had repeatedly laid out the economic fallout of the Centre’s fiscal hostility towards non-BJP-ruled States, chiefly Kerala.
Mr. Balan said the Centre owed Kerala an estimated ₹58,000 in GST compensation and revenue deficit grant.
He accused the BJP of whittling Kerala’s share of the gross tax revenue distributed between the Centre and the States from the divisive pool.
Mr. Balan also accused the Centre of stymieing Kerala’s infrastructure development by arbitrarily lowering the State’s borrowing limit.
Changing tide
Mr. Balan said the Congress sensed the tide was changing in Kerala. The Opposition could ill-afford to remain an apologist for the Centre’s brazen trespasses on fiscal federalism by wrongly blaming the State Government for the financial crisis.
Mr. Balan alleged that Congress MPs had repeatedly refused to join hands with the ruling LDF to flag Kerala’s economic woes with the Central Government and demand what was owed to the State.
Mr. Balan said the Congress sensed the sand was shifting under its feet. He spotlighted the appearance of “Congress leader” A.V. Gopinath and Mr. Vijayan at the Navakerala Sadas in Palakkad as “proof of growing bipartisan approval” for the Cabinet’s outreach programme.
CPI(M) welcomes Gopinath
“The Congress’s disciplinary action against Mr. Gopinath notwithstanding, more prominent figures from the Opposition would rise above politics and join hands with the government for the State’s development. The LDF would give Mr. Gopinath political cover. The CPI(M) has accommodated Congress leaders who chose to join hands with the party in senior positions,” Mr. Balan said.
Speaking to reporters in Palakkad, Mr. Gopinath said he was unaware of any discplinary action against him. “I had forsaken the primary membership of the Congress in 2021. But I remain a Congress person at heart. The Congress leadership can no more dictate my actions”, he added.
Political opposition remains: Prathapan
Mr. Prathapan told a news channel in New Delhi that the Congress’s opposition to the LDF government’s “financial mismanagement and profligacy” would march in lockstep with the party’s resolve to resist the Centre’s fiscal antipathy to non-BJP ruled States.
