New Delhi: Referring to a revelation made by a top government official, Congress Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government of substantially slashing the state funds as soon as he was sworn in as Prime Minister for the first time in 2014.
In a detailed post on X, Congress general secretary and in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said soon after becoming the Prime Minister in 2014, "Modi himself made a dastardly unconstitutional attempt to intimidate the 14th Finance Commission into letting him steal from State Governments’ share of tax revenues".
"This is an extraordinary revelation by a top Modi government official who is currently no less than the CEO of the NITI Aayog. The official has revealed that PM Modi himself made a dastardly unconstitutional attempt to intimidate the 14th Finance Commission into letting him steal from State Governments’ share of tax revenues. The 14th Finance Commission had recommended 42%, but the newly elected Prime Minister was keen to slash this to much lesser," Ramesh said in his post.
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This is an extraordinary revelation by a top Modi government official who is currently no less than the CEO of the NITI Aayog.
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) January 18, 2024 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
The official has revealed that PM Modi himself made a dastardly unconstitutional attempt to intimidate the 14th Finance Commission into letting him… pic.twitter.com/HYPNTT8PAC
">This is an extraordinary revelation by a top Modi government official who is currently no less than the CEO of the NITI Aayog.
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) January 18, 2024
The official has revealed that PM Modi himself made a dastardly unconstitutional attempt to intimidate the 14th Finance Commission into letting him… pic.twitter.com/HYPNTT8PACThis is an extraordinary revelation by a top Modi government official who is currently no less than the CEO of the NITI Aayog.
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) January 18, 2024
The official has revealed that PM Modi himself made a dastardly unconstitutional attempt to intimidate the 14th Finance Commission into letting him… pic.twitter.com/HYPNTT8PAC
"When the Prime Minister failed in this endeavour, his government “was forced to hastily redo its maiden full budget in 48 hours and slash funding” for social welfare programmes. Worse, this official revealed that the Modi government’s budget claims are “covered in layers and layers of attempt to cover the truth” and added he was “sure you will have a Hindenburg who will open up the [government’s] accounts if they are transparent”. The reference to Hindenburg says it all," he added.
The Congress leader said that "this blatant disregard for a Constitutional body exposes the Prime Minister's real niyat: overcentralisation, absolute control and the dismantling of India’s federalism." "Nor can we ignore the human impact of this attempted cornering of mandated funds for state, denying them their Constitutional right. State Governments finance everything from law and order to school education, and have had fewer sources of revenue after the introduction of the GST. This is one of the reasons Rahul Gandhi is leading the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra: to ensure political justice, strengthen federalism, and to uphold Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution that begins by stating, “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States”," Ramesh said in his post.
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