Ally says govt usurping powers
Punjab deputy chief minister and head of the Shiromani Akali Dal, an NDA ally, Sukhbir Badal, on Saturday accused the Centre of “usurping” states’ powers and indulging in a “constitutional rampage” by quietly shifting subjects from the “state list” to “concurrent list” and then to “Union list”. Mr Badal’s statement will have a significant political ramifications in poll- bound Punjab.
Speaking at the 11th Inter- State Council meeting here on Saturday, Mr Badal said states were being reduced to “mere beggars” as their rights and authority were being “usurped” by the Centre in violation of the spirit of the Constitution. He said there was a widespread consensus that the trend towards centralisation of authority was continuing, as he stressed on the need for a “genuine” federal structure in India with devolution of more powers to states. He suggested that the post of governor should not be kept vacant for more than a month at a time.
“The most dangerous exhibition of this tendency is seen in how the Centre has been quietly shifting subjects from the ‘ state list’ to the ‘ concurrent list’ and from the concurrent to the ‘ Union list’, which amounts to constitutional rampage,” he said. Mr Badal suggested that for matters in “concurrent lists”, due weightage should be given to the opinion of the state government and on “Central list” matters, consultation with affected should be carried out.
He said states should be given much greater operational freedom to choose and finance development priorities of their people.