Opposition Alleges Center's Antagonistic Approach and Assault on Federalism

A key campaign platform, according to the INDIA alliance, is the Center's "antagonistic approach" towards Opposition-ruled states, which aims to "expose" Prime Minister Narendra Modi's grandiose claims about "cooperative federalism."

During the INDIA rally on Sunday at the Ramlila grounds in Delhi, which was conducted in the wake of the recent arrests of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, this feeling was central to the event.

The relationship between the central administration and the chief ministers of the opposition is now marked by an unparalleled degree of mistrust and hostility. One of the main causes of the pre-election unity amongst political parties and their claims of a serious danger to democracy has been the growing "misuse" of central investigative agencies against opposition leaders.

During the protest, some opposition figures expressed doubts over the impartiality of the voting procedure, a concern that was not expressed even during the 1977 general election that followed the emergency.

In a statement, Jairam Ramesh, the head of communications for the Congress, said that Modi was destroying federalism.

"One must remember how the Prime Minister is transgressing both literally and figuratively Article 1 of the Indian Constitution, which declares that "India, that is, Bharat, should be a Union of States," the statement said.

"In May 2014, Modi made a large speech promoting cooperative federalism to kick off his term. Rather, he has brought about adversarial federalism. Consensus is the foundation of cooperative federalism, and Modi has shown a distinct refusal and inability to reach one. Conversely, combative federalism—which is Modi's primary competency—is predicated on sowing discord and division.

Speakers at the gathering said that under Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the BJP was engaging in a politics of complete dominance and control.

A democracy, according to Uddhav, requires "a coalition of forces" rather than one person in charge, but Mehbooba Mufti, a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, said that the true anti-national was someone who willfully broke the constitution.

Regional parties were under duress and coercion, according to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, to keep them from joining the Opposition coalition. According to him, Soren's refusal to sever his connections with the Congress led to his imprisonment.

Mayawati, the leader of the BSP, is said to be under similar pressure. She has refrained from joining the Opposition coalition even though it seems that her party would be destroyed by fighting on its own. Leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party have also discussed demands to sever ties with the Congress.

In addition, Ramesh mentioned in his remarks the efforts being made to overthrow opposition administrations in the states.

He said that since 2014, the BJP has unlawfully attempted and/or successfully overthrown several state governments via the division of political parties and the purchase of MLAs, using its hundreds of crores of illicitly obtained electoral bond funds and the intimidation of the ED, CBI, and IT (income-tax department).

Maharashtra, Goa, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Uttarakhand, and Arunachal Pradesh are among the states on the list.

"The Prime Minister's coordinated assault on the Constitution's federal structure" drew criticism from Ramesh.

"Centralization of finances is one problem. According to the statement, "the prime minister and the finance minister make it seem as though they are doing the states a big favor every time they get their constitutional share of taxes, or their legitimate entitlement."

"In actuality, there are numerous examples that demonstrate their opposition to sharing revenue with the states."

Ramesh said, "Cess is a type of tax that is not shared with the states," as examples. The percentage of tax income that is collected as a "cess" or "surcharge" has increased from around 10% to over 26% since 2014. Cessation revenue collections have increased by more than 133% over the last five years, with governments withholding lakhs of crores of dollars.

"Modi attempted to directly interfere in the operations of the 14th Finance Commission by pressuring the chairman to lower the states' share of central taxes from 42% to 33% in a blatantly illegal and unconstitutional move."

Ramesh accused Modi of undermining state sovereignty, citing the withholding of cash and impeding state projects, especially social packages.