Top Congress leaders from Karnataka led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday staged a protest in the national capital against the Centre over alleged injustice to the southern state in devolution of taxes, sparking a fierce slugfest between the party and the Modi government.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, several Congress MPs, ministers and MLAs from Karnataka were also part of the protests which lasted two hours.
The Congress has alleged that “injustice” has been meted out to Karnataka in tax devolution and grants-in-aid over the past few years.
The party leaders demanded that the Centre set right the losses to the tune of Rs 1.87 lakh crore allegedly incurred by Karnataka under the 15th Finance Commission.
Siddaramaiah said their protest is not against the BJP but the discrimination against Karnataka.
Dismissing the BJP’s allegation that the protest was aimed at raking up a North-South divide, the chief minister said the Congress wants the country to be united but there should be no discrimination against the southern states.
“We are raising the issue of discrimination meted out by the government of India to the state of Karnataka and other southern states,” Siddaramaiah said while addressing the protesters.
“This is why I had written a letter to all the MPs of the BJP and the JD(S) asking them to participate in this agitation,” he said. “Our protest is to urge that the hen that lays the golden egg should not be beheaded, and the udder that gives milk should not be cut.”
The state government had brought out front page ‘My Tax My Right’ advertisments in major dailies to highlight what it said was the “financial atrocities committed by the Central government on Kannadigas and Karnataka”.
Siddaramaiah said the formula used to devolve taxes to the states, especially Karnataka, under the 14th Finance Commission was changed by the 15th Finance Commission and called for reverting to the old formula to stop the loss of revenue for his state. Shivakumar said Karnataka ranks second in Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection and is the biggest contributor to the country’s revenue.
“We are asking for our rights, we are asking for our share. The Karnataka government had sought drought relief funds from the Centre but not even a single rupee was given,” he said.
“We are the voice of Karnataka. We demand justice,” Shivakumar said.
“It is not a show of strength. You see, the people of Karnataka don’t want to show our strength. It is the voice of Karnataka, where injustice has been done. 7 crore people, they are giving tax every day, we are getting only 13 per cent, we want our share.” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the protest was to safeguard the interests of Karnataka.