“Linking state administration to the ruler’s palaces has become the BJP’s plan of action,” Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin India Talking Edition Podcast 3rd Edition

Chennai:Prime Minister M K Stalin accused the BJP-led union government of strangling states by linking state administration to governors’ palaces, reducing allocation of funds to states in all finance commissions and under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, among others.

Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi has chosen to attack the saffron regime at the Center for not giving assent to 19 bills passed by the legislature.

Stalin was making these accusations in the third episode of his program ‘Speaking for India’.

He also credited the BJP government for taking action on the corruption exposed in the previous episode on the basis of the CAG report, by sacking CAG officers who found such corruption.

The topic of ‘State Rights’ was covered in the current episode which was made available in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi.

“DMK is not only a party celebrating its 75th anniversary with its own set of unique policies but also the third largest party in Parliament fighting to save democracy!”

He said that “state autonomy” is one of the main virtues of the DMK.

“India is a federal state consisting of people with different languages, races, cultures and customs. Our people have many religious beliefs and many forms of worship. They also have constitutional rights. Despite these differences, we all live in harmony. In short, Stalin said: ‘India is like A wonderful garden full of various beautiful flowers!”

He added that this is why those who created the country’s administrative framework did so as a union of states with a federal principle and not as a unified nation.

He recalled the time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi served as Chief Minister of Gujarat and how he often spoke in favor of state rights. After becoming President, he did not like even the first line of the Constitution – “India, that is, Bharat, shall become a union of states!”

The Prime Minister was accused of wanting to reduce the states to be abolished or transformed into mere municipalities, at the very least.

Stalin listed five instances in which PM Modi took a contradictory view when he was the Prime Minister and how he turned against him.

He referred to the abolition of the Planning Commission and the establishment of Niti Aayog, among other things.

He also accused the BJP of resorting to party-breaking and buying off multilateral aid agreements, with states being forced to wait at the doorstep of the Union government for even the smallest projects.

“The BJP said in its election manifesto that it will consult all state governments to reform the indirect tax system. In addition, the Prime Minister said that it will give more fiscal powers to state governments. But even the GST compensation period has not been extended. The state share is also not granted regularly. In short, because of GST, the financial situation of the states in the UIC!”

Stalin charged that the decline in allocation of funds in the 12th Finance Commission had set Tamil Nadu back by about Rs 85,000 crore in the last 19 years. “We are on the verge of losing more than Rs 10,000 crore every year from now on.”

Stalin recalled how the Interstate Council that was formed to address interstate issues was later dissolved.

“There is no idea to listen to the suggestions of the states. The states are not allowed to act within the powers given by the Constitution,” he said. Linking the entire administration of the states to the palace of the governor has become the plan of action of the BJP, he said.

This is the reason why the BJP used the Governor to stop the approval of 19 bills passed in the Legislative Assembly by all the representatives of the people of Tamil Nadu, he added.

“Overall, state rights have been crushed under the BJP regime, and the federalism and democracy enshrined in our Constitution have come to tears with the people of the country!”

He positioned “state self-government” as the only way to protect the country from all “evils.”

“A federal government that prevents states from functioning, and governors who are paid by the state government but work against the well-being of the state; despite these obstacles, the opposition-led states have accomplished a lot. If we form a federal government that respects the federal government by standards, all states will flourish better.”

For the principle of state independence to prevail, the Indian alliance must come to power. People have to prepare for that. Before the next parliamentary elections, the five state council elections will be held, which are considered mini-parliamentary elections. He appealed to voters who will vote in it to do so with this in mind.