Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, colleagues allege 'economic discrimination' by Centre; protest in Delhi

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, his Cabinet colleagues and LDF legislators staged a protest at Jantar Mantar here on Thursday against what they called the Centre's "economic discrimination" against the state.

Delhi and Punjab CMs Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwat Mann, DMK's Tiruchi Shiva, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, Independent MP Kapil Sibal, CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI chief D Raja and many others from the INDIA bloc joined the protest where Congress leaders kept away due to LDF-UDF local political rivalry in Kerala.

Addressing the gathering, CM Vijayan said: "We have come together to register our strong protest and preserve the federal structure of India. Today, we are making the beginning of a united flight that would herald the dawn of ensuring equal treatment of the states. This fight will also strive to maintain balance in the Centre-state relation. February 8 is going to be a red letter day in the history of India."


The Delhi protest, incidentally, came at a time when Serious Fraud Investigation Office of the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs is conducting a probe into Vijayan's daughter Veena's IT firm's alleged payment links with a Kerala-based private firm.

Vijayan further said the Centre's discrimination against Kerala, leading to the financial squeezing of the state, forced him and his colleagues to resort to the protest path. Dismissing the Centre's charge of Opposition promoting the "north-south divide", Vijayan said the protest was to protect the people of his state.

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal charged the Modi government with "waging a war against" the states ruled by the Opposition parties. Kejriwal, who is facing ED summons, also accused the Centre of using ED as a "new weapon" against political opponents. Mann said the Centre was also deploying the governors to create obstacles for the Opposition-ruled state governments.