The latest victim of the Modi Government’s sham commitment to the concept of cooperative federalism has been the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala.

Expectedly, the Pinarayi Vijayan Government has taken strong exception to the Modi Government’s direct instructions to district collectors in the state to convene special gram sabhas. The ostensible purpose of the move was to get suggestions from the people on the formulation of a vision document being readied as an alternative to the Five Year Plans, which are coming to a close on March 31 this year.

The move saw both the ruling LDF and the Opposition United Democratic Front voicing their strong resentment over it.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is on record that the move is against the federal structure. No word is too strong to condemn the decision to bypass the state government, said the Chief Minister in his response. Local self-governments are under the direct control of state governments, Vijayan reminded the Modi Government. The right thing for the Centre to do was to write to the Chief Secretary who can then give necessary instructions to the district collectors.

Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala denounced the decision, saying that such authoritarian style of functioning, which will only strain the relations between the Centre and the State. The NITI Aayog, Chennithala opined, is a total failure, adding that the move is totally against all federal concepts.

The Centre’s proclivity to ignore the state government was clear from the direct letter from the NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant to district collectors.

With the State Government strongly opposing the move, the instructions from Niti Aayog will be ignored, it is learnt.

If anything, the Centre’s arbitrary decision has further steeled the State Government’s resolve to go ahead with its own five year plan programme called the People’s Planning Programme. In fact, the Chief Minister has already officially inaugurated it.

This is not the only example of the Centre’s tendency to bypass the state government. In another such instance, the Centre had decided to grant Y category security to four top BJP leaders in the State without seeking the state government’s response to it. It was a wrong move which would injure the concept of federalism. The Centre should have first enquired of the state government whether there is any threat to the BJP leaders. After all, it is the state government’s duty to provide security to the BJP leaders. But the Modi Government did nothing of the kind, and went ahead by announcing its unilateral decision to grant security to the party leaders.

The above-mentioned two instances highlight the Centre’s lip service to the federal concept. Is it too much to expect that the Modi Government will refrain from making such arbitrary moves at least in the future? Past record does not inspire much confidence. The state government has no option but to exercise utmost vigilance against such anti-federalism moves from the Centre. (IPA Service)