Chief Ministers of non-UPA ruledstates today attacked the Centre, alleging that its policieshad slowed down the country's growth and that their voice wasbeing ignored, with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaawalking out of the NDC meet to highlight this.
Jayalalithaa, along with West Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, BiharChief Minister Nitish Kumar, Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modiand Chief Ministers of other BJP-ruled states used the forumof National Development Council (NDC) to criticise the Centreover allocation of funds and resources.
Jayalalithaa faulted the centre over several issues, likeeconomic policies and FDI in multi-brand retail, and accusedit of ignoring suggestions put forth by states by adopting"big brotherly and undemocratic approach".
She said the Manmohan Singh government was "caught up inthe daily squabbles of its constituents" and "is merely tryingto survive from day-to-day" as a result of which it has"neither the time nor the inclination to pay attention" to theproblems of the people of this country.
She walked out of the NDC meeting accusing the Centre of"stifling" the voice of Chief Ministers by restricting theirspeeches to 10 minutes, terming it as a "big humiliation".
Yadav termed the decline in central assistance to statesas a cause of "serious concern" and asked the Centre todiscourage the practice of not taking state governments onboard while finalising sectoral distributions.
Modi alleged that the Manmohan Singh government was suffering from "policy paralysis, intellectual bankruptcy andlack of leadership". He criticised the lowering of growthtarget in the 12th Plan from 9 per cent to 8.2 per cent,saying it would lead to a sense of pessimism in the country.
Banerjee accused the Centre of having had an "unholynexus" with the erstwhile Left Front government in WestBengal, saying it had left the state with a debt burden of Rs2 lakh crore.
Seeking redressal of the same, she said the "patience ofour people" is running out as she hoped the Centre would moveforward on the debt impasse.
Kumar charged that the Centre's Inter-Ministerial Group(IMG) was not considering the issue of granting specialcategory status to Bihar with seriousness as he made a strongpitch for it.
Raman Singh said inordinate delay in decision-making andcomplicated procedures for statutory clearances were hurtingthe country's economy growth and investor sentiment.