Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R. Ashok claimed that the Congress in the State was trying to “mislead people by blaming the Centre for fund crunch”.
Mr. Ashok’s statement comes after the Congress announced that all its legislators, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, will stage a protest against the “injustice” to the State in tax devolution and Central funds on February 7 in New Delhi. He termed the protest an “election gimmick” and said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had clarified that there were no pending dues from the Union government to the State.
He demanded that Mr. Siddaramaiah publish a White Paper on funds the State has got from the Union government during 10 years of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule and during 10 years of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rule.
“Agreed Karnataka collects a higher share of taxes. Maharashtra collects much more tax than us. Are they getting a better share of the taxes collected in their State than us? What is the share Delhi is getting of the taxes it collects? Let the government publish a White Paper and let people decide,” he said.
In favour of less developed
“Taxes will always be devolved in favour of regions that are backward and less developed. For instance, earlier there was a demand from Kodagu for a separate State arguing they pay higher taxes and give us water from the Cauvery but were receiving little back. Mr. Siddaramaiah had himself then said tax devolution issues cannot be the basis for separatism,” Mr. Ashok said.
He further gave the example of Bengaluru, which he said collects 65% of the revenue of the State, but gets only 5% back as allocation. “Can a district be allocated funds as much as revenue it generates? The Constitutional principle is to fund underdeveloped areas,” he argued.
Meanwhile, standing his ground, Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar said in Kalaburagi: “The Centre hasn’t released any drought relief and it is not devolving enough funds for the State. The funds earmarked for the State in the previous Budgets is also not being released and hence the protest. All MLAs, MLCs, MPs, Ministers, and the Chief Minister will take part in the protest.”
‘BJP should introspect’
He said the State BJP leaders must introspect about their inability to get justice for Karnataka from the Centre. “They haven’t made any attempt to meet the Prime Minister and discuss the State’s interests and injustice caused by the disparity. The people of the State answered their apathy by rejecting them in the recent elections,” he said.
