The Kerala government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan staged a protest here against the Centre’s alleged discrimination towards the state’s functioning and fiscal autonomy.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann expressed solidarity to their Kerala counterpart and joined the demonstration held at the Jantar Mantar.
MPs from the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu also held a demonstration against the Centre in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament over alleged “financial injustice” with the Southern state.
Notably, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has earlier extended his support to Vijayan over the matter of Kerala.
The protests of both the Kerala government and the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu in the national capital came a day after Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, state ministers, MLAs and party leaders and workers staged protest in the city against the Centre and demanded a judicious share of resources and funds for the state.
Addressing the gathering at Jantar Mantar, the Kerala Chief Minister said, they have come here to register their protest against the Centre and save the “federal structure of India”.
“Our voices have surged in unison, demanding our rightful due. We will not yield until the Constitution’s principles are upheld and justice prevails,’’ he said.
The Chief Minister also expressed his gratitude to those who expressed their solidarity and joined the protest.
Echoing similar sentiments, Kejriwal attacking the BJP said, “The BJP sitting at centre wants to destroy federal structure. The federal structure of the country is the basis of our Constitution and democracy, the fight to save it is the fight of all of us.’
“There are opposition governments in half the states of the country, Centre is not allowing them to work, does it not consider people of these states as its own?,” the AAP national convenor asked.
Accusing the Centre of misusing the Central probe agencies, he said, “Centre’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) has become a new weapon, first they send a person to jail, then make a case, he cannot come out before being proven innocent.They put Hemant Soren in jail without proving any crime, in same way they will put me or anyone else in jail.’’