Vijayan & Stalin launch scathing attack on Centre for 'usurping' powers of states
Kannur (Ker)(PTI): The Chief Ministers of Kerala and Tamil Nadu on Saturday accused the BJP government at the Centre of hampering the unity and integrity of the nation by usurping powers of the state governments.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin alleged that unity in diversity is the nation's culture but right-wing forces were advocating to do away with them, so as to convert India into a unitary state.
The statements made by the chief ministers came amid a row that erupted in the country over Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent comments that Hindi should be accepted as an alternative to English and not to local languages.
Both Vijayan and Stalin lambasted the BJP-led NDA government during a seminar organised by the CPI(M) as part of its 23rd Party Congress being held here alleging that the central government, undermining the Constitutional values, was attacking the basic principles of federalism.
Addressing the seminar, Vijayan said the move to impose Hindi cannot be accepted.
"India is a country which is known for its unity in diversity. The idea itself means accepting diversity. Our Constitution has also given importance to many languages in India. Most of the states were formed on the basis of language after a long struggle. The Sangh Parivar agenda is not to recognise diversity and federalism of our country. It's part of their agenda to weaken the regional languages," Vijayan said.
He said imposing Hindi and destroying regional languages cannot be accepted and such a move will hamper the unity and integrity of the nation.
Slamming the BJP, Vijayan said the erstwhile Planning Commission was replaced by the NITI Aayog which has no powers in distributing resources and the financial freedom of states was being restricted.
"BJP has been aggressively pursuing the policies initiated by the Congress. Democratising Centre-State relations is not on their agenda and each initiative of theirs has further deteriorated Centre-State relations," he said.
"Interventions in Jammu and Kashmir and Lakshadweep are pointers to the same. By bifurcating and dismembering J&K, its constitutional right accorded through Article 370 has been violated. Lakshadweep's unique features have been overlooked while taking unilateral decisions about it," Vijayan added.
Attacking the Congress over its neo-liberal policies, Vijayan said the party had introduced VAT and sidelined states' demands for more taxation powers.
Vijayan said after independence, in the 1967 general elections, Jana Sangh which was the predecessor of the BJP had promised in their poll manifesto to convert India into a unitary state.
"And now, the right-wing forces are in power, and talking of the presidential form of government. Hence, the issue and this seminar assume greater significance," he said.
In his address, Stalin said if India has to be protected, states should be first guarded and only if states are shielded, the nation could be safeguarded.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister said unity in diversity is the nation's culture, but efforts aimed at 'eliminating' diversities and creating a 'unitary' character were being made.
Some were changing the basic political norms, Stalin said, apparently hitting out at the BJP.
Accusing the Centre of being 'power hungry', which misused the office of Governor in opposition-ruled states and for making state governments to 'plead with the Centre' for funds, Stalin appealed to secular parties to emulate DMK's broad-based coalition in Tamil Nadu and join hands at the national level to take on the BJP and usher in a truly federal India.
If India has to be protected, states should be first guarded and only if states are shielded, the nation could be safeguarded, Stalin said. Some were changing the basic political norms, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister said, apparently hitting out at the BJP.
Underscoring the nation's diversity, including those related to religion, food and languages, Stalin said 'unity in diversity is our culture'. However, efforts were being made to eliminate diversities and create a unitary character, he alleged.
Stalin pointed to the BJP-led Centre's proposal like 'one nation, one election', and alleged that efforts were on towards a 'single education' system, a 'single religion, language and culture.' Stalin said a 'single' chorus was now being sung for everything.
Mocking at the BJP, he said at this rate, the trend may extend towards a single party system and though the BJP may be happy with it, nothing could be more dangerous to the country.
Given such a scenario, the BJP has to be opposed and the "Manilathil Suyathchi, Mathiyil Kootatchi" slogan is the DMK party's voice against autocracy, Stalin said. The slogan could be roughly translated as autonomy for the state and a share in power at the Centre. Also, it could mean a rightful place for states in Centre's policies and decision making process.
The DMK president further said the Constitution makers did not envisage a unitary structure of power but stood for division of powers as reflected in features like the state, centre and concurrent lists.
Vijayan said unity in diversity was the strength of the country right from the days of the freedom struggle and said it was essential to restructure Centre-State relations in such a way that the states' characters and rights are preserved.
The CPI(M) veteran demanded that states should not be penalised for making advances in various sectors and funds for such sectors should be allowed to be utilised in other sectors or in tailor made projects to further excel in those very same sectors.
"State governments should not be forced to follow the Centre's policies when they have been voted in by the people to pursue alternative policies," Vijayan said.
Vijayan also asked the Centre to end the misuse of central investigation agencies for political purposes.
On the GST front, Stalin said the states' revenue sources were usurped and the compensation too is not complete and even that was not allotted to states promptly.
"The funds for state governments are not at all disbursed. A sum of Rs 21,000 crore is due for Tamil Nadu alone," he said.
Stalin also alleged the Centre was 'ruling' states through the office of Governor and this was against the Constitution. "Is it the rule of law to run a parallel government in opposition ruled states through Governors?" he asked.
Stalin said Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi has put on hold as many as 11 Bills including the anti-NEET Bill, passed by the TN Assembly. "What is the reason for him not clearing such Bills? Does he have powers more than the eight crore people of the state?"
When this was the case in opposition-ruled states, Stalin asked if democracy is functional in the country. The Centre came up with stumbling blocks if egalitarian principles are underscored and if schemes are formulated for the marginalised people.
Such a trend has to be fought in the people's court, through the legislatures and the judiciary and this is being done, he added.
Stalin praised his Kerala counterpart Vijayan as one who exemplified ideal administration of a state government and on the one hand he has the trait to fight for rights and on the other hand, he has visionary projects.
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NEET-UG: 2 more held, role of several NTA officers under scanner; CBI focussing on source of leak
New Delhi (PTI): The CBI has arrested two more persons in connection with the NEET (UG) paper-leak case, with the role of several officers of the National Testing Agency (NTA) and other organisations, who had access to the printing press where the papers were printed, coming under the scanner, officials said on Thursday.
The agency has arrested Dhananjay Lokhanda from Ahilyanagar and Manisha Waghmare from Pune and conducted searches at 14 locations across the country in the last 24 hours, they said.
The CBI is focussing on identifying the source of the leak that has caused massive disappointment to lakhs of aspirants eyeing a seat in undergraduate medical courses, which are allotted after the highly-competitive examination, the officials said.
According to the CBI probe so far, the involvement of public servants in the leak cannot be ruled out.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested three individuals from Jaipur -- Mangilal Biwal, Vikas Biwal and Dinesh Biwal -- along with Yash Yadav from Gurugram and Shubham Khairnar from Nashik.
Khairnar was in touch with Yadav and informed him in April that Mangilal Biwal was ready to pay Rs 10-12 lakh for arranging leaked NEET (UG) 2026 questions for his younger son.
Khairnar allegedly provided 500 to 600 questions from the leaked paper to Yadav, the officials said, adding that the questions could have helped score enough marks to get a seat in a reputed medical college.
Mangilal Biwal allegedly procured the paper from Yadav, who was known to his elder son Vikas Biwal from an NEET coaching in Rajasthan's Sikar. The deal between Mangilal Biwal and Yadav was for Rs 10 lakh, if 150 questions from the question bank matched with those in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) paper, the officials said.
Mangilal Biwal shared the paper with his son and further distributed it among relatives.
Yadav also told Vikas Biwal to find additional candidates for the questions to recover some of the money that he had spent on getting those, the officials said.
An analysis of digital devices has given the agency incriminating chats, leaked question papers and other digital evidence. The CBI will subject the devices to a forensic examination to get the deleted data, the officials said.
The federal agency has registered an FIR and formed teams to probe the alleged NEET (UG) paper leak that resulted in the cancellation of the exam held on May 3.
The NEET (UG) 2026 was conducted across 551 Indian cities and at 14 overseas centres. Nearly 23 lakh candidates had registered for the test, which was administered by the NTA at centres across the country.
According to the NTA, information regarding alleged malpractice was received on the evening of May 7, four days after the examination was held. The NTA said the inputs were escalated to central agencies the following morning for "independent verification and necessary action".
The Rajasthan Police's Special Operations Group (SOG) has claimed that a "guess paper" for chemistry, allegedly circulated among students ahead of the examination, had approximately 410 questions, including roughly 120 that appeared in the test.
