New Delhi: Top leaders from the Congress party in Karnataka, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, converged at Jantar Mantar in the national capital on Wednesday to protest against 'unfair treatment' by the central government in the devolution of taxes to the state.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, several MPs, ministers and MLAs from the state took part in the protest. The Congress alleges that "injustice" has been meted out to Karnataka in tax devolution and grants-in-aid over the past few years. The protesters demanded that the Centre set right the losses to the tune of Rs 1.87 lakh crore allegedly incurred by Karnataka under the 15th Finance Commission.
Siddaramaiah said this protest is not against the BJP but the discrimination against Karnataka.
Dismissing the BJP's allegation that the protest was aimed at raking up the North-South divide, the chief minister said the Congress wants the country to be united but there should be no discrimination against the southern states.
The chief minister said the formula used to devolve taxes to the states, especially Karnataka, under the 14th Finance Commission was changed by the 15th Finance Commission and called for reverting to the old formula to stop the loss of revenue for his state. He said they would also submit a representation to the new Finance Commission for adopting the formula used by the 14th Finance Commission.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, along with his cabinet colleagues, will stage a protest in Delhi against the Centre's alleged negligence towards the southern state on February 8.
(With PTI inputs.)
