Joint Council of Southern States Required to Resist Anti-federal Approach: Stalin at CPI-M Party Congress

Kannur: A seminar on ‘Union-State Relations’ organised as part of the 23rd Party Congress of the CPI(M) saw Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and his counterpart M K Stalin of Tamil Nadu, coming together to declare a fight against the high-handedness of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime at the Centre. Vijayan, a Politburo member of the CPI(M), and Stalin, the DMK chief, called for unity of the states against the Union government that undermines federal principles and cultural diversity. 

Stalin was received with thunderous applause and greeting slogans, at a thickly packed Jawahar Stadium, in Kannur, the bastion of the ruling Left party in the state. The dravidian leader reciprocated the affection as he started his address in Malayalam, mentioning his strong admiration for the people of Kerala and the communist movement. “Above all, my name is Stalin, nothing more is necessary to mark the bond that you and I share”, he said as he received a thundering ovation from the massive crowd. 

Inaugurating the seminar, Pinarayi Vijayan insisted on democratising the Centre-state relations. “The Union government defies constitutional principles and state-Centre agreements. Even the powers guaranteed by the Constitution are being sabotaged. It is pertinent to move forward with the approach of democratising the Union-state relations,” Vijayan said. 

He also commented on the Centre’s attempt to impose the Hindi language upon non-Hindi speaking regions. “The people have a strong affection towards their native languages. Imposing one language, one culture on other regions can not be accepted,” said Vijayan. The Kerala CM also criticised the Centre over discrimination towards non-BJP states in allocation of resources. 

M K Stalin lashed out at the Union government’s ‘undemocratic approach’ saying that “the Centre wants states to be their puppets”. “It is a country with many different languages and diverse cultures. Unity in diversity has been the strength of our nationhood. But, the BJP is trying to subvert this. Their attempt is to establish a dangerous notion, that of one language, one dress, one food, and one religion. This could further lead to ‘only one party’ and ultimately ‘only one person’,” said Stalin. 

He further opined that a joint council of Southern states upholding the rights of these states is necessary to oppose the Centre's moves undermining federal principles. “Some forget that India is a union of states. The rights of the states must be protected in order to save the nation,” he added. 

“The Constitution was framed in a way so that the autonomy and powers of the Centre and the states are not intertwined. However, the Union government is encroaching on the powers of the states, violating all constitutional rights,” said Stalin, asserting that the constitutional rights of the states could not be surrendered.

Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader K V Thomas also attended the seminar defying strong opposition from his party’s state unit. Thomas said that the Modi government, which scrapped the railway budget, was squeezing the states out of the allocation for infrastructure development projects. The Centre does not care about the states, even if the states raise a united resistance. Isolated resistance of one state government would prove detrimental for the state, said Thomas.