South states will be forced to seek separate nation status: Cong MP D K Suresh stokes row

BENGALURU: Bengaluru Rural Congress MP D K Suresh on Thursday stirred a controversy when he said the south states may have to seek a separate nation status due to the injustice done by the Union government. His remark drew sharp criticism from the Opposition BJP in the state which termed the Congress as a divisive party.

Reacting to the interim budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament earlier in the day in New Delhi, Suresh said the budget has only some new words and new names for schemes and that there was nothing new in it.

“The southern states are facing injustice as we are not getting out dues. Now they are talking about interest-free loans of Rs 75,000 crore. We are not even getting out tax dues. If the situation continues, we will be forced to seek separate nation status”, he said.

“More funds for development are going to northern states and we are not getting our due. We are facing injustice in all matters. The Hindi regions are pushing us to a situation where we may have to seek a separate nation status if this injustice is not condemned”, the Congress MP said.

He further said that in the budget, some names have been changed and new names given to mislead the people. “If they had presented the Economic Survey, the achievements of the previous year would have been known. The budget has some announcements with an eye on the election”, he said.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, responding to questions, said there is no question of dividing the nation. “The integrity of the country has to be maintained. We have accepted a federal form of government and we can make demands. State governments contribute taxes and the Centre distributes to states as per the Finance Commission recommendations”, he said.

Reacting to his brother’s remarks in Benglauru, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar defended him saying he was only voicing the thoughts of the people. “I am from this Akhand Bharat and Suresh was only saying what the people are thinking about being ignored. There is only one Bharat and I am from Bharat, we are all children of the same soil. Suresh was only giving vent to public anger to the injustice”, he said.

Further, Shivakumar said, “We should be united and the country is united from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. But injustice should not be done to any region including the Hindi belt. We had met the Finance Minister and had requested funds for the state. Bengaluru has not received Finance Commission grants and neither Bengaluru nor the other parts of South India have funds. This is the worst budget and has let us down”, the Deputy CM said.