THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/CHENNAI/NEW DELHI: Kerala's Left Front and Tamil Nadu's Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) began separate protests in Delhi on Thursday morning against the BJP-led Centre over alleged neglect and partiality in allocation of funds to their states.
The LDF's protest is being led by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Left front ministers, legislators and parliamentarians are in attendance.
The CM said, "We have come together to register our strong protest and preserve the federal structure of India. Today, we are making the beginning of a reunited fight that would herald the dawn of ensuring equal treatment of the states. This fight will also strive to maintain balance in the Centre-State relation. 8th Feb is going to be a red letter day in the history of India."
The Centre's discrimination against Kerala and the resultant financial crunch has forced the state to resort to the protest path, Pinarayi Vijayan had said on Wednesday alleging that the Union government's actions have weakened cooperative federalism.
The Left government in Kerala, which has been blaming the Centre for the state's financial woes, had in its budget attacked the Union government stating that it was pushing the southern state towards the worst financial crisis in its history.
The UDF had declined to take part in the protest by saying it does not agree with the Left narrative blaming the Centre for all of the state's financial problems.
DMK's stir against Centre
The DMK's 'black shirt' demonstration is being led by the party's Parliamentary leader T R Baalu held near the Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex to protest against the 'non-allocation' of requisite funds to Tamil Nadu in the interim budget 2024-25.
The DMK has accused the saffron party-led dispensation at the Centre of 'partiality' as Tamil Nadu was not appropriately funded to tackle the situation arising out of damage caused by the recent cyclone, rains and flood.
The DMK said that in the interim budget, there was no announcement on Tamil Nadu's representation seeking relief to the tune of about Rs 37,000 crore following the cyclone, unprecedented rains and flood in December 2023.
"Also, there was no announcement in the interim budget on fund allocation for Tamil Nadu's development projects, including establishment of the AIIMS in Madurai," the DMK said.
Top Congress leaders from Karnataka, led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, on Wednesday held a protest in Delhi against the Centre over alleged injustice to the southern state in devolution of taxes, sparking a fierce slugfest between the party and the Narendra Modi government.
(With additional inputs from Online Desk)
