Cong's Kannada nationalism to counter BJP's Hindutva

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Congress MP from Bengaluru Rural DK Suresh ruffled feathers on Thursday when he said if “injustice” kept getting dealt to southern states; the region may demand a separate nation.

He was speaking about the unfavourable breakdown of tax devolution to southern states on the day the Union Interim Budget was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Although many termed his approach ham-handed, others have found Congress’ line of attack against the BJP hiding in plain sight.

Suresh was articulating a Kannada nationalist grouse against the BJP, which appears to be gearing up for a Lok Sabha campaign spearheaded by Hindutva in the backdrop of the Ram Mandir consecration held last month. Tax devolution is one such Kannada nationalist grouse.

Suresh, for instance, pointed out that Karnataka contributed Rs 4 lakh crore. For the 2024-25 Financial Year, Rs 44,485.49 crore would be devolved to Karnataka.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, mere hours after being sworn in on May 20 last year, pointed out that the interim report of the 15th finance commission had recommended Rs 5,495 crore should be given to Karnataka as a special assistance package, adding that the suggestion was removed from the final report.

Congressmen have also repeated the fact that Sitharaman was a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka “but it did the state little good”.

Last month, the CM shared an investigation report by news website Al Jazeera in which CEO of NITI Aayog BVR Subrahmanyam made the revelation that he had been the Centre’s liaison to the Finance Commission.

The purpose was to bring down the states’ share in taxes (from 42 per cent to 33 per cent) in the lead up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s maiden Union Budget in 2014.

However, the commission chairman YV Reddy rebuffed him. This, Siddaramaiah said, was a ploy to shortchange states.

A few days later, in a seminar organised by the MS Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, Siddaramaiah expressed hope that the 16th Finance Commission would listen to their demands on tax devolution.

The state’s tax share fell from 4.713 per cent under the 14th Finance Commission to 3.647 per cent under the 15th.

Infra demands fall on deaf ears.

The other complaint has been lack of monetary help from the Centre on infrastructure projects, which was reflected in the previous Budget. As much as Rs 5,300 crore promised for the Upper Bhadra project hasn’t been received by the state yet.

Funds for the Peripheral Ring Road weren’t received either. Both Siddaramaiah and his Deputy DK Shivaumar pointed this out.

Drought relief not forthcoming

Karnataka has also been pursuing compensation for drought from the Centre under National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) norms but to no avail.

The State government had declared that 223 out of 236 taluks in Karnataka were drought-hit. Crop loss of Rs 33,710 crore has been estimated, and compensation of Rs 17,901 crore has been requested from the Centre.

Siddaramaiah has pointed out that BJP had 25 MPs in the state out of a possible 28, adding that “they had failed to pursue Karnataka’s interest and force drought compensation to be released.”