A crucial Left Democratic Front (LDF) State committee meeting here on January 16 (Tuesday) resolved to take the fight against the Centre’s “crippling financial embargo” on Kerala to New Delhi by announcing a high-profile protest led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at Jantar Mantar on February 8.
Left Democratic Front (LDF) convener E.P. Jayarajan said Ministers, MLAs and Lok Sabha members from Kerala will join Mr. Vijayan in New Delhi in “State’s fight for fiscal federalism and fair treatment”. The Chief Minister will lead the elected representatives on foot from Kerala House to the protest venue.
He said Mr. Vijayan had on Sunday invited Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) national general secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty to lend Congress-led United Democratic Front’s (UDF) weight to the struggle for Kerala’s development and welfare.
Mr. Jayarajan said the UDF has not responded to the LDF’s invitation to join the politically bipartisan fight for the State’s future.
He said the LDF desired the UDF’s support for the almost existential struggle to maintain the pace of Kerala’s infrastructure development projects and also the hardiness of its social welfare net.
Mr. Jayarajan said LDF volunteers on February 8 will knock on the doors at the election booth level to spotlight the Centre’s financial ostracisation of Kerala among the comity of States that make up the Indian Union. “People will hold marches to panchayat centres to express solidarity with the Chief Minister’s protest in New Delhi”, he said.
‘BJP resentful of Kerala’s achievements’
He said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre was resentful of the State’s development and welfare achievements. It wanted to undermine the LDF’s acceptance among the people by strangulating the State’s finances and pushing Kerala to penury.
The Centre had denied Kerala its revenue deficit grant. It had stopped paying GST compensation and hobbled the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board’s (KIIFB) functioning by lowering the State’s borrowing limit, he said.
Also read | The fiscal challenge to Kerala’s development
Moreover, the Centre reckoned borrowings from the open financial market by special purpose vehicles, public utilities, including the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), and public sector units, as State debt. It also withheld the Centre’s share of development projects implemented in the State. It also squeezed Kerala’s dividend from the divisive pool of taxes, he added.
Mr. Jayarajan said, for instance, Kerala’s share of tax was a measly 25 paise for every rupee the Centre collected from the State. In comparison, Uttar Pradesh received ₹1.56 and Karnataka 75 paise for every rupee collected by the Centre. The BJP at the Centre was punishing Kerala for its high quality of life index achieved over the years through hard struggle, including high literacy and a robust public health system, he said.
Mr. Jayarajan said other non-BJP-ruled States faced a similar predicament. Mr. Vijayan will write to Chief Ministers and Union Ministers about the Centre’s injustice towards Kerala.
He also urged BJP leaders to join the fight for Kerala’s finances if they had any concern for the people of the State.
