All Congress MLAs and MPs from Karnataka state will stage a protest in New Delhi today demanding the central government to implement fair tax allocation policies. Karnataka Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar reached delhi a day before to oversee the arrangements at Jantar Mantar. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will lead the protest today.
Today's protest at Jantar Mantar is expected to include 135 Congress MLAs, 28 MLCs, one Lok Sabha MP, and five Rajya Sabha MPs, including Independent MLA Darshan Puttannaiah. In addition, other Congress leaders from Karnataka and Youth Congress members are expected to join the demonstration against the central government's policies.
Explaining it in crux, state IT minister Priyank Kharge tweeted: "Annually, the Karnataka generates ₹4.3 lakh Cr through various taxes, yet it receives only 12%-13% of its entitled share from the BJP government.
Under the 14th Finance Commission, our allocation stood at 4.71%, but it plummeted to 3.65% in the 15th Finance Commission, resulting in a loss of 73,593 crore. Despite representing Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman dismissed the interim report of the 15th Finance Commission, which proposed a special grant of 25,459 crore to compensate Karnataka for its tax devolution shortfall."
Prior to the protest, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah tried to reach out to all Union ministers and MPs from Karnataka, urging their support. He wrote letters dated February 5, highlighting the issue and called for a "Chalo Delhi" agitation, alleging ongoing injustice and neglect towards Karnataka by the central government.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union minister for coal, mines and parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, and Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment A Narayanaswamy are among those invited to participate in the protest.
"The gross injustice in the distribution of tax share to Karnataka, neglect and delay in giving permission and assistance for various projects are affecting the life of the people in the state. The responsible elected representatives are aware of this. Therefore, on behalf of all the people of Karnataka, I request you to participate in this agitation and make it a success," the chief minister wrote in his letter.
Siddaramaiah said the inequitable tax distribution and delay in project approvals is impacting the lives of people in Karnataka and urged elected representatives to unite in advocating the interests of the state.
Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar, state home minister G Parameshwara, Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala and others took the decision to hold protests in Delhi earlier on January 10 during a meeting at Bengaluru.
