Opposition leaders during a march from MLA Hostel to Kerala Assembly protesting against the State budget, in Thiruvananthapuram, on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Speaker A. N. Shamsheer adjourned the Kerala Legislative Assembly until February 27 following strident opposition protests over fuel, piped water, power and liquor price increase.
Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) legislators marched to the Assembly complex from the nearby MLA hostel. They displayed a long banner accusing the government of robbery and pickpocketing.
Also read | Why Kerala’s tax rate hikes appear compelling
Protest inside the assembly
Later, the protesting legislators trooped into the well of the House, disrupting the question hour. They shouted slogans against the government’s fiscal policy.
Mr. Shamsheer’s appeals for calm failed to douse the vociferous protest.
The Speaker hurried through the day’s business, requested ministers to table their reports and adjourned the House.
The four opposition legislators staging a sit-protest outside the Assembly chamber ended their demonstration.
Opposition leader’s points
Leader of Opposition, V. D. Satheesan, said two successive terms in power had rendered the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) alliance arrogant and far removed from the travails of the ordinary person.
The government’s exacting budget tax proposals would hobble public spending and deaden markets, further diminishing the State’s tax earnings.
The social security cess on fuel would cause inflation to spiral out of control. It would make daily commuting and transporting of goods and services dearer.
Power and piped water tariff increase would further whittle down the dispensable income of households and impede their spending power.
Mr. Satheesan said the LDF government had forced the people to pick up the heavy public debt tab caused by the administration’s financial mismanagement.
He said check posts have turned into avenues of corruption. Lackadaisical tax administration has diminished the State’s revenue. The opposition has no recourse but to intensify its strike against the price hike.
Meanwhile, a damning Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report slamming the government for inefficient tax collection resulting in an estimated ₹7,100 crore revenue shortfall in the past fiscal invigorated the opposition.
Mr. Satheesan will likely raise the CAG’s findings to berate the State’s allegedly lax tax administration.
Also read |Explained | Kerala’s mounting public debt
Finance Minister’s defence
Meanwhile, Finance Minister K. N. Balagopal reiterated the government’s resolve not to roll back the tax proposals.
He said the government had no choice but to “minimally” hike tax and impose a cess on fuel and liquor to mobilise resources for the State’s welfare and social security initiatives.
Mr. Balagopal said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government’s squeeze on States’ finances had precipitated the unprecedented financial crisis.
The Centre halted GST compensation, reduced the divisive pool dividend of States and minimised the revenue deficit grant. The Centre has also incrementally whittled down food and social security dole outs.
The Centre hauled down the borrowing limit of States by erroneously including loans by State-run entities and special purpose vehicles like Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) in the public debt burden.
Mr. Balagopal said, ideally, the opposition should cooperate with the government to oppose the Centre’s anti-State fiscal policies. The Centre has systematically eroded the principles of fiscal federalism enshrined in the Constitution. However, Congress remained silent on the Centre’s trespasses and jurisdictional overreach.
Left Democratic Front (LDF) convenor mocked the UDF legislators’ march to the Assembly as a “casual morning walk”. He said additional resources mobilisation through special levies was imperative to sustain the State’s social welfare programmes.