India Has Moved from Cooperative Federalism to Coercive Unilateralism, Says Kapil Sibal

Kolkata, July 16: Former Congress leader and MP Kapil Sibal on Saturday said the country under the BJP rule has moved from cooperative federalism to "coercive unilateralism". Condemning a recent order that said MPs cannot conduct any protest action in the precincts of the Parliament House, he stated that "this is unacceptable".

Sibal, who had quit the Congress a few months back and is presently an independent Rajya Sabha MP, said the federal structure has been diminished, and the "Constitution has been defaced just for the sake of power and only power". "The planning commission where the states could place their views and demands have been replaced with NITI Aayog. Earlier, the states had a forum where they could interact. The process of dialogue and discussion is totally absent now." Monsoon Session 2022: 24 New Bills To Be Introduced in Parliament; Govt to Bring Press And Registration of Periodicals Bill.

"There is no cooperative federalism. We have moved from cooperative federalism to coercive unilateralism," Sibal said while addressing a seminar on federalism - "The Discourse 2022". The former union minister said the "politics of the Centre" is ruling the states instead of the Constitution.

"Offices of the governors and the central agencies have turned into a long arm of the government...The CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) and ED (Enforcement Directorate) act in such a way as if all guilty and corrupt people reside only in opposition-ruled states," he said. Wondering whether the toppling of elected state governments is an example of "cooperative federalism", Sibal said the BJP-led Centre's motive is to create "opposition mukt Bharat" (opposition-free India) not just "Congress mukt Bharat". Vice President Election 2022: Jagdeep Dhankhar Named NDA Candidate for the Post of Vice President of India.

"Is replacing an elected government through a process which is murky an example of cooperative federalism? It started with Uttarakhand, where Presidential rule was imposed, the elected government was toppled, and people defected. Then, it was followed by Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra." "Where does an elected government get replaced through defection, and where is the single largest party not called to form a government? This has happened to the Congress in Goa, and so was the case in Manipur and Meghalaya," he said.

Sibal, without elaboration, said the saddest part is that those who are supposed to protect people under the Constitution are "not standing up". "Very seldom do they stand up. But if they don't, it is for all of us, the citizens of this country, to stand up," he said. Later, while talking to reporters, Sibal criticised the recent order to ban protests in Parliament.

"A day might come when they might ask us that we need to stop protest across the country. This is their mindset to stop any form of protest, but peaceful protest is a democratic right," he told reporters on the sidelines of the programme here. Demonstrations, 'dharnas' and religious ceremonies cannot be held in the precincts of the Parliament House, according to a circular issued by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, which has drawn the ire of the opposition even as Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has insisted that such notices are being issued for years.

West Bengal Chief Secretary H K Dwivedi, while speaking at the programme, said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and handling of the COVID pandemic is a fine example of cooperative federalism. "Unless there is trust among the Centre and states, and the Centre takes into confidence in initiatives that are being taken for the larger interest of this country, cooperative federalism cannot be strengthened.

"For cooperative federalism to succeed, there has to be an element of trust. And this comes through deliberations, consultations and not through unilateral decisions," he said.