Devolution of Central taxes: Congress to start campaign against ‘stepmotherly’ treatment towards Karnataka

The Congress party will soon start a campaign against the alleged stepmotherly treatment by the BJP government at the Centre towards Karnataka over the issue of devolution of Central taxes.

Addressing a press conference in Mysuru on Tuesday, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson M. Lakshmana said the party will take up house-to-house distribution pamphlets to highlight the alleged injustice towards Karnataka in sharing of Central taxes.

“We will start the campaign next week as soon as we receive directions from the Chief Minister in the regard,” he said.

Even though Karnataka contributes ₹4.80 lakh crore in all forms of taxes to the Centre, the State is receiving a mere ₹52,000 crore. While the Finance Commission guidelines stipulate that the State was entitled to 42 per cent of the taxes, the Centre is passing only a mere 13 per cent of the taxes.

In comparison, the other states receive a larger share, he said claiming that Uttar Pradesh receives 65 per cent, Andhra Pradesh receives 50 and Madhya Pradesh receives 55 per cent.

Even though Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, she was perpetuating injustice to the State, Mr. Lakshmana alleged while also questioning Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi’s contribution to the State. Even though Mr. Joshi has been a Minister at the Centre for the last ten years, he was unable to secure approval from the Centre for Kalasa Banduri project in his region, he lamented.

Even though the State has elected 19 MPs from the BJP, the MPs were not raising their voice over the issue, he regretted.

Meanwhile, Mr. Lakshmana has opposed the proposed shifting of Railway goods shed from Mysuru to Yeliyur in Mandya district.

He said he met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the issue and prevailed upon him to write a letter to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, marking a copy to Minister of State for Railways V. Somanna, opposing any move to shift the Railway goods shed from Mysuru.

The Railway goods shed in Mysuru was not serving as a stockyard for rice and fertilisers, it provided a source of livelihood to about 10,000 families. Several truckloads of fertilisers are transported to different parts of the region from the goods shed.

“Let them have another goods shed in Yeliyur, but the existing one in Mysuru cannot be shifted,” he argued.

Lokayukta

Mr. Lakshmana also came down heavily on activist Snehamayi Krishna for making repeated visits to the office of the Lokayukta and allegedly bringing pressure on the officials investigating the alleged MUDA scam.

Alleging that the activist was “blackmailing” the Lokayukta officials and directing the course of the investigation, Mr. Lakshmana said Mr. Snehamayi Krishna was an “agent” of BJP-JD(S), who had hatched a conspiracy against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Published - October 15, 2024 07:46 pm IST