Reiterating his allegation that the Union government is trying to blackmail Kerala into withdrawing the suit filed in the Supreme Court, Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal on Thursday said the State would not give in to pressure tactics.
The Centre was also exploiting the fact that the expenditures of the States in March, the last month of a fiscal, tend to be on the higher side. In March 2023, for instance, Kerala’s treasury expenses stood at ₹22,000 crore, Mr. Balagopal said in a statement.
He said the Union government had expressed its willingness to allow Kerala to borrow ₹13,609 crore more in return for withdrawing the suit filed against it in the Supreme Court. Mr. Balagopal reiterated the Left Democratic Front government’s stand that Kerala was anyway entitled to this money. “To say that the State will receive it once the petition is withdrawn is blackmail,” he said.
He said ₹13,609 crore included ₹4,866 crore related to power sector reforms, ₹4,323 crore deducted from the State’s borrowing ceiling due to mistakes in calculating the public account deposits, ₹1,877 crore which is the balance amount in the previous year’s borrowing quota, and ₹2,543 crore by way of replacement loan.
The Bharatiya Janata Party government’s approach, he said, was similar to that of a “goon holding someone captive and making him sign a contract. Such scenarios used to appear only in movies. Now these tactics are being used against a State”, the Minister said.
Mr. Balagopal expressed his conviction that the Supreme Court would protect the constitutional rights of the State and the Union government.
Last week, the Supreme Court listed the case for hearing on March 6 and 7.
