Nirmala Sitharaman flays Cong MP Suresh over demand for separate nation for southern states
Bengaluru (PTI): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has decried Congress MP D K Suresh's statement that the southern states will be forced to demand for a separate nation due to the alleged injustice in the release of central grants to them.
Insisting that "the central government has no role to play except for obeying the Finance Commission, Sitharaman said the states must sit with the Commission and highlight the weightage that will help them get the grants."
"If southern states...I don't want to club them as southern states...each one has its own strengths and it is also now getting into those very, very dangerous threshold of 'Southern states together'. We will have '...' (separate nation)," the finance minister said during an interactive event - 'The Indian Express Adda'- here on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, the Bengaluru Rural MP Suresh said the southern states will be forced to demand for a separate nation if the alleged 'injustice' was not rectified.
He had claimed that taxes collected from the south were being distributed to north India and that the former (southern states) was not getting the due share.
"You have a responsible Member of Parliament (Suresh), brother of the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, who says we will have a separate southern state. It cannot go to that extent. I'm sorry. I can't be with that," Sitharaman said.
Explaining further, she said, "I'm coming from a southern state. I cannot wait a moment, stand next to anybody who says 'we in the southern states then demand...it cannot be so. That is what I'm worried about."
Praising the southern states for performing better in the index, Sitharaman insisted that when the southern states sit with the Finance Commission, they have to highlight and speak about their demands and weightages.
The finance minister underlined that "the central government has no role to play except for obeying the Finance Commission."
"If the Finance Commissioner tells me you give this much per month, I have to do it. There's no way in which any finance minister can tweak it in favour of one or the other," Sitharaman added.
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BJP dreaming to win polls with money power: West Bengal BJP MLA after bypoll loss
Kolkata, Nov 23: As the ruling Trinamool Congress swept the by-elections in six assembly seats in West Bengal, Kurseong's party MLA Bishnu Prasad Sharma attacked the state leadership, saying the party dreams of winning polls with money power and that it sidelines legislators and gives "unnecessary importance and responsibilities" to MPs.
The TMC retained five of the six seats it had previously won during the 2021 polls, while wresting the key Madarihat seat from the saffron camp in north Bengal’s Alipurduar district.
In a Facebook post, Sharma alleged, "The BJP runs a membership drive in West Bengal over the phone from a Kolkata office, while party leaders turn a blind eye to factionalism within the party. The party sidelines MLAs and gives unnecessary importance and responsibilities to MPs. It dreams of winning elections relying on money power. Despite having no shortage of political issues in the state, it centers its politics solely around religion."
"The BJP accuses opponents of corruption while carrying Adani and Ambani on its shoulders. It tries to undermine the rights of the indigenous population by luring Bangladeshi Hindus with promises of CAA. It halts MGNREGA funds and indulges in such tactics, hoping to win elections in the state," he alleged.
On the other hand, the BJP MLA lauded TMC saying, that the ruling party in the state, armed with 26 different "pro-poor schemes" such as Kanyashree Prakalpa, Gitanjali Housing Scheme, Krishak Bandhu Scheme, Nijo Griha Nijo Bhumi, Rupashree Prakalpa, Shishu Sathi Scheme, and Student Credit Card, quietly works at the grassroots level.
"Now, you decide who will win the elections. I have never seen a culture of self-criticism within the BJP; otherwise, this outcome wouldn't have occurred," he added.
Since the 2021 assembly elections, the TMC has won every by-election, except the Sagardighi bypoll in March 2023, which was won by a Congress candidate who later switched to the TMC.
With this victory, TMC's tally in the 294-member state assembly rose to 216, further consolidating its position. The BJP's tally, on the other hand, dropped to 69, from 77 in 2021.
