By IANS,
Agartala : The central government is neglecting states led by opposition parties while providing financial packages to those led by the Congress and its allies, a Tripura minister said here Wednesday.
Finance Minister Badal Choudhury told reporters: “The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government recently decided to provide huge financial support to West Bengal and Assam governments, but it is yet to even react to the Tripura government’s demand for Rs.14,600 crore.”
Tripura is ruled by the Left Front.
“Chief Minister Manik Sarkar had written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh early September seeking a discussion on overcoming the unprecedented financial crisis facing the state in view of the erroneous recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission (TFC). Singh is yet to respond to Sarkar’s letter,” the minister said.
Choudhury, also a member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) central committee, asked: “If the central government considers support and grants financial assistance on political outlook, how would the federal structure of India’s governance be strengthened?”
Referring to the central government’s decision to give financial packages to the Trinamool Congress-led government in West Bengal and Congress-ruled Assam government, the minister said: “The centre should also respond to our demand positively.”
Tripura sought around Rs.27,000 crore but the 13th Finance Commission recommended the sanctioning of about Rs.16,350 crore in 2009. Its report was accepted by the centre last year.
The opposition Congress in the state blames the financial crisis in Tripura on the “financial mismanagement of the Left Front government”.
Congress with an eye to the state assembly elections in early 2013 has demanded an emergency audit of the Tripura government’s accounts by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
Opposition leader Ratan Lal Nath said the Left Front government had been undemocratically challenging parliament and a constitutional body like the finance commission.
“Like in West Bengal, the Left Front government in Tripura before the assembly polls in 2013 has been trying to exhaust the state’s financial exchequer,” the Congress leader alleged.