In India, Centre-State relations have often been characterised by friction. Yet, it is not often that a State government decides to descend in full strength in New Delhi, alleging unfair treatment at the hands of the Union government.
The decision by Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government to take its running battle against the “crippling” policies of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre and its “neglect” towards the State all the way to Jantar Mantar, a place in New Delhi often used for protests, is significant on several levels. The protest is being held just a few months before the Lok Sabha elections. Mr. Vijayan has announced that he will be leading his Cabinet colleagues and elected representatives in the high-profile protest. To add more firepower, the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led LDF has also invited Chief Ministers and senior leaders of non-BJP States to join the event.
While the impact of this strategy on the flagging INDIA alliance at the national level remains to be seen, the Congress-led Opposition in the State, the United Democratic Front (UDF), has refused to join the protest.
Financial relations between the BJP-led Union government and the CPI(M)-led LDF regime in Kerala have been far from friendly in recent years. Kerala has repeatedly accused the Centre of being motivated by political considerations in punching it where it hurts the most, namely, the the money belt. It blames the Centre for cutting off crucial revenue inflow to a trickle, forcing the State to rely more and more on its own meagre resources.
The Kerala Finance Minister, K.N. Balagopal, a vocal critic of Union fiscal policies, alleges that Kerala was deprived of ₹57,400 crore in Central transfers and loan approvals just this year. The LDF government had moved the Supreme Court last December, charging the Centre with interfering in its finances and trimming its borrowing limit.
Politically, the CPI(M) hopes to cement its position as a prime mover in the anti-BJP alliance at the national level through the protest. On the fiscal front, the Left has singled out the BJP-led Union government as the source of Kerala’s current worries. The LDF has built a narrative around the charge that the Centre has imposed a “financial embargo-like situation” on Kerala. While presenting the 2024-25 State Budget, Mr. Balagopal also mentioned a ‘Plan B’ to preserve the momentum of developmental programmes while “retaining the values of the Kerala Model of development,” if the “neglect” persists.
But the UDF, while critical of New Delhi’s policies, considers them to be only one part of the reason. It believes that Kerala’s financial troubles primarily stem from mismanagement and wasteful spending by the LDF government. The Opposition steadfastly stuck to this stand when Mr. Vijayan held discussions with the Leader of the Opposition, V.D. Satheesan, and Deputy Opposition Leader P.K. Kunhalikutty in a bid to coax the Opposition to support his government’s protest. Members of the UDF were also absent when the State Legislative Assembly passed a resolution against Union Government policies on February 2.
In reality, the Congress and the UDF were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Supporting the CPI(M), the Congress’s chief adversary in Kerala, ahead of the general elections would have gifted the BJP a sharp election weapon. In trying to carve out a space in unfriendly Kerala, the BJP has for long argued that there is little difference between the LDF and UDF.
But in refusing to join the protest, the UDF has drawn flak from the LDF for disregarding the State’s larger interests and scuttling the possibility of a united front against “stifling” Union government policies. The LDF has also been quick to use the fresh development as a stick with which to beat the Congress. It has portrayed the decision of the Congress government in Karnataka to stage a similar protest in New Delhi on February 7 as a vindication of its own anti-BJP stand. While Mr. Balagopal saw in Karnataka’s decision “poetic justice,” M.V. Govindan, the secretary of the CPI(M)’s Kerala unit, said that it should open the eyes of the Congress in Kerala.
The February 8 protest will be keenly watched for its implications for Kerala’s stand-off with the Centre. And, more importantly perhaps, for what it holds for the INDIA bloc in the run-up to the elections.
