THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance Minister KN Balagopal on Saturday said he was curious to know the latest position of the Kerala unit of the Congress party on Centre-state financial relations. The minister’s comment came in the wake of the Karnataka government’s criticism against the Union government on the discrimination in fund distribution.
“All major Opposition parties in the country have raised their voices against the flaws in the distribution of Central funds. The Congress government in Karnataka has announced a protest against the Union government. West Bengal CM and many other states have condemned the Centre’s policy. Kerala faces the biggest discrimination. The Economic Review 2022-23 has dealt with it in detail,” he said.
Quoting the RBI’s state finances report, Balagopal said that the Central share in Kerala’s overall revenue was Rs 23 for every hundred rupees. There are states which get as much as Rs 70.
“Still, the Congress, UDF and the BJP had found fault with our criticism against the Centre. I don’t know what is the position of Kerala’s Congress leaders in the wake of the Karnataka CM’s stand,” he told reporters.
He wondered why the leader of Opposition walked out of the assembly without participating in the discussion on a resolution against the Centre’s discrimination.
“The core idea of the resolution was that the Centre should not consider Kerala as its sub-department. He walked out of the house without speaking about it. Now, the Karnataka government’s stand has come as a poetic justice,” he said.