“Tamil Nadu and Kerala are fellow travellers in our struggle to ensure that Centre–State relations align with constitutional ideals,” said Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas while speaking at THE WEEK Tamil Nadu Leadership Summit held in Chennai on March 2. “There is real camaraderie and chemistry between the chief ministers of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. When the Kerala government went to Delhi to protest discrimination, Tamil Nadu sent an emissary in solidarity,” said the CPI(M) leader, one of the prominent Left voices in Parliament.
The journalist-turned-politician said the country is witnessing a trend of centralisation across various domains. “Whether on the legislative front or in executive decisions, power is gravitating toward the Centre. From Delhi’s perspective, the states are being reduced to the level of municipalities. Every piece of legislation passed in Parliament seems designed to reserve power for the Union,” Brittas said, adding that it is important for states to come together to protect Indian federalism.
“Recently, they brought in something called VB-G RAM G in place of the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. That move alone places an additional burden on states. Tamil Nadu’s expenditure will go up by Rs 6,000 crore; Kerala will have to spend Rs 3,500 crore. There is a conscious effort to concentrate power in Delhi,” he said.
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Fund flows between the Centre and the states, he added, have become a major friction point. Asked whether states are losing fiscal space to design their own development models, Brittas replied, “Absolutely. Take education. Tamil Nadu’s Samagra Shiksha funds are being withheld because it will not implement the three-language formula. Kerala’s funds are blocked because we have not introduced PM Shri schools. It’s ironic—Samagra Shiksha began in 2018, the National Education Policy came in 2020, and PM Shri in 2022. A subsequent scheme is being used to withdraw funds for an existing one. It is unconstitutional and immoral,” he said.
The Left MP also said that in recent years, greater unity has emerged among opposition-ruled states, especially in the south, as they perceive an agenda to discriminate against them. “Look at the CBI charge sheets mentioning a ‘South Group’—as if being from the south is a criminal act,” Brittas said.
He also criticised the BJP’s “double engine” narrative. “The ‘Double Engine’ rhetoric is a fraud. Gujarat has four engines—the state, the Union, Amit Shah and Narendra Modi—and yet it lags behind on several social indicators. What is the use of these engines if they do not help people? More than affluence, a state should be judged by its social indices and the health of its social fabric. In some states, that fabric is filled with hate,” he said.
