The country is in a dangerous shift from cooperative federalism to coercive centralism: Karnataka CM

Attacking the BJP-led Union government, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the country is in a dangerous shift from cooperative federalism to coercive centralism, where decisions are made in Delhi and imposed on states and then celebrated as reforms.

“When the Union government withholds funds, delays disaster relief and imposes one-size-fits-all policies, it not only violates federalism but betrays the socialist spirit of the Constitution. Today, the cooperative and social democratic approach is being systematically nullified. The BJP-led Union government has replaced trust with control and partnership with punishment,” the Prime Minister said on January 20 in Bengaluru at the Convention of Socialists of South India organized by the Center for Socialist Studies and Samajawadi Sangama.

‘Great crisis’

He argued that the BJP and RSS are giving the country a ‘major crisis’ in the form of delimitation, destruction of constitutional principles and suppression of fiscal federalism. “It goes to the core of India’s constitutional democracy. States are reduced to executive bodies with no authority and expected to provide welfare without funds. Delimitation is a political issue that will determine the political future, political equality and regional dignity and the future of the federal structure.”

“If the delimitation is implemented as proposed by the BJP today, South India will be weakened and its power reduced. It will be politically marginalized in its own country. It will increase centralization of political power. In resource allocation, injustice will further increase,” the chief minister said.

Mr. Siddaramaiah said it was not just a policy issue but a threat to the fabric of the Indian union, carried out through financial control, political pressure and constitutional manipulation. “The current crisis of federalism is not accidental, but ideological. It arises from a shift from democratic socialism to authoritarian centralism,” he said.

Successive Congress governments, he argued, had respected the Finance Commission as an independent arbiter of fiscal justice, and had expanded decentralization and subsidies to enable states to implement welfare schemes. “Institutions like the Planning Commission are designed as collaborative forums with states, allowing for flexibility rather than top-down exercises.”

‘Soul of the Constitution’

Stating that cooperative federalism is not a choice but the soul of the Constitution, he said, “These words have resonated through time, from the Constituent Assembly debates to modern debates, reminding us that the unity of India does not lie in uniformity but in respecting diverse regions, languages ​​and cultures. Historically, socialism has emerged as a democratic response to authoritarianism,” he said.

Socialist thoughts are deeply rooted in the political history of Karnataka, Mr. Siddaramaiah said, adding that it has shaped the governance culture of Karnataka.