Today in Politics: Vijayan Cabinet to hold protest against Modi govt at Jantar Mantar; BJP vs Cong on economy rages

A day after Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah along with his entire Cabinet staged a protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar against the BJP-ruled Centre’s alleged injustice to the state in devolution of taxes and release of funds, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan and his CPM-led LDF Cabinet will hold a similar protest on the issue at the same venue Thursday.

The Vijayan government’s protest will be supported by the DMK MPs. Tamil Nadu CM and DMK supremo M K Stalin has already extended his backing to Vijayan over his Delhi protest. AAP leader and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and his counterpart in Punjab, Bhagwant Mann, too, will be joining the protest.

On the eve of his protest, as reported by Liz Mathew, Vijayan told a press conference, “Social welfare and development expenditure in the state has been hampered due to financial constraints created by the unconstitutional approach of the Central government. This agitation is intended to safeguard the constitutional rights of all states, not merely Kerala.”

Vijayan clarified that the coming together of the non-BJP parties or a so-called southern alliance should not be seen as a north-south divide. “It’s about the states getting their rights and what is due for them. It’s an issue concerning the entire country,” he said.

Several southern states have criticised the Narendra Modi government in recent years over its tax devolution policies and losing out on tax revenue. As they hit the streets of Delhi in protest, there is also talk about the southern states forming an alliance to seek their “rightful share” in taxes devolved by the Centre and protest against alleged disparities in allocation of Central funds, as reported by Akram M and Shaju Philip.

Already, Karnataka,