Bengaluru: Strongly condemning the Centre’s alleged step-motherly attitude towards Karnataka regarding tax devolution, the State Congress Government led by CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar will hold a stir at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar tomorrow (Feb.7).
Addressing a press meet in Bengaluru yesterday, CM Siddaramaiah said the protest will be staged at Jantar Mantar at 11 am tomorrow.
Pointing out that the stir is aimed against Centre’s discrimination towards the State regarding tax devolution, the CM claimed that Karnataka has suffered a total loss of Rs.1,87, 000 crore since 2017 under various tax heads.
Alleging that North Indian States are getting more money from tax devolution, he said that this is grave injustice as it is the Southern States which contribute more to the Centre’s taxation heads.
Noting that Karnataka strongly opposes the Centre’s attitude towards the State, Siddaramaiah said that the stir aims to draw the attention of the country regarding injustice to the State after the Modi Government came to power at the Centre.
Lashing out at PM Modi and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for turning a blind eye to the State’s numerous representations for releasing due share of Central taxes, the CM maintained that the stir is not a political one. He further said that the State Government is mulling on coming up with a white paper regarding the issue.
Meanwhile, D.K. Shivakumar, who is already in the national capital, inspected the protest venue last night along with his MP brother D.K. Suresh and others.
This post was published on February 6, 2024 7:40 pm