Kerala CM accuses Centre of 'squeezing' state financially

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday accused the BJP-led central government of trying to destroy the state by 'squeezing' it financially and putting obstacles in the path of its development.

Charging the Centre with attempting to curtail even the limited rights of the state, he said they were trying to impose a peculiar kind of "financial pressure" on the southern state with an objective to destroy it.

The Chief Minister was speaking after inaugurating the state conference of the PSC employees union here.

The union government was continuing its efforts to violate the federal principles prevalent in the country, he alleged.

"Our state's deserved revenue grant is slashed and effort is on to curtail its borrowing limit. The attempt is to push our state into a deep crisis," he said.

Claiming that the union government was 'usurping' the powers of the state, the Marxist veteran further said this has become a "bane" for the country.

The Centre's attitude was "we can do anything and you cannot", he said, adding that it was even trying to take over the cooperative sector. By keeping one million positions vacant, the union government was trying to destroy the employment sector of the country, he added.

 Vijayan also warned against attempts to weaken the constitutional institutions of the country and create division among the people.

 The CM's scathing attack against the Centre comes weeks after the Enforcement Directorate had sent a notice to former state finance minister T M Thomas Isaac in connection with its probe into alleged violations in the financial dealings of KIIFB, the primary agency of the state government for financing large and critical infrastructure projects.

State Finance Minister K N Balagopal, in July, had lashed out at the NDA government at the Centre over its economic policies, which he alleged were financially crippling the southern state and destroying the federal structure envisaged in the Constitution.