Chennai: Chief Minister M K Stalin accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of treating the States as municipalities and forcing the Chief Minister to go over to New Delhi, leaving behind their responsibilities back home, to fight for the rights of the State and the release of funds due to them.
Addressing a protest, spearheaded by Kerala Chief Minister Pinayari Vijayan, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Thursday through video conference, Stalin said Modi had been depriving the States of the funds due them and warned the BJP ruled States too that they would soon be facing the same predicament of not being provided the required funds.
Stopping the fund flow to the States by the Union Government was like cutting the oxygen flow, he said, adding that it was regrettable that Modi, who was earlier the Chief Minister of Gujarat, started stifling the States once he became the Prime Minister.
Stating that Karnataka Chief Minister Siddharamiah had to go over to Delhi to lead a protest and the Kerala Chief Minister had to do the same thing to protect federalism, Stalin recalled former Prime Minister V P Singh assuring the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M Karunanidhi that he would never have to come to Delhi just made his demands over phone.
All States in the country had been facing severe financial crises after the implementation of GST and the Prime Minister, instead of addressing the crises, was depriving the States of funds by functioning in an autocratic fashion, he said.
Though the public debt to finance the State’s expenditure was the look out of the respective State Assembly, the Union Government was interfering in their affairs by restricting the borrowing limit of States and becoming a stumbling block to the developmental projects.
Stalin said that though he wanted to personally participate in the protest organized by Kerala, he could not make it because he had arrived from Spain on Wednesday after a 10 day trip to seek investments for the State.
Apart from Pinayari Vijayan, CPM general secretary Sitharam Yechury also took part in the protest.
