The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) on Friday appeared to hold an olive branch to the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition by proposing a joint agitation against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government’s “politically motivated disinclination” to release urgent aid for the rehabilitation of the landslides ravaged Wayanad district.
LDF convener T.P. Ramakrishnan also announced a siege of Raj Bhavan on December 6 to mobilise the people against the Centre’s “hostility and apathy” toward the State. He said more than 25,000 LDF workers would participate in the protest in Thiruvananthapuram. On the same day, he said not less than 10,000 LDF activists would besiege Central government offices in district centres.
Mr. Ramakrishnan welcomed the decision of UDF MPs to join the LDF in raising the Wayanad issue in the upcoming winter session of Parliament. However, Mr. Ramakrishnan slammed Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan’s stated position that the UDF agitation against the Centre’s neglect of Kerala would always be independent of the ruling front.
Mr. Ramakrishnan criticised former Union Minister and BJP leader V. Muraleedharan for making light of the natural catastrophe. He said the mudslide that swamped Mundakkai and Chooralmala localities in Meppadi panchayat had claimed hundreds of lives, rendered several more homeless, and disposed of the agricultural land.
However, Mr. Ramakrishnan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited the disaster zone, seemed not to have acknowledged the disaster’s severity. “With hindsight, the people of Kerala could safely infer that Mr. Modi’s visit was nothing more than a made-for-television public relations exercise,” he said.
He said the government was intent on progressing with its rehabilitation plans, including a modern township for the survivors, with or without the Centre’s help. He said the Centre had disbursed disaster aid of an estimated ₹5,808 crore to different States, of which Kerala only received a meagre ₹145 crore.
Mr. Ramakrishnan said the Centre was exerting a financial stranglehold on Kerala to hobble its development and social welfare programmes.
He said the Centre wanted to dismantle the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), a State-owned special-purpose vehicle to raise funds for development and welfare from the open financial market. The Centre had lowered Kerala’s borrowing ceiling by including KIIFB’s out-of-budget borrowings in the State’s debt. Mr Ramakrishnan said the LDF would mobilise the people against the Centre’s “financial embargo” on Kerala.
He said the Centre had whittled down the outlay for health, education, public distribution system and social welfare schemes. It halted GST compensation and slashed Kerala’s tax share from the divisive pool. Mr. Ramakrishnan said the Centre “punished” Kerala for its high physical quality of life index and abolishment of extreme poverty by denying it federal funds.
Published – November 22, 2024 07:38 pm IST