Discussing fiscal injustice on social media: Siddaramaiah announces X Spaces interaction for 14 February

According to official sources, people can interact with the chief minister and directly ask him questions about fiscal injustice, Karnataka, and Kannada issues.

A statement from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said Siddaramaiah would “not only address netizens but also interact with and take questions from them”.

“We are planning to host this for about an hour. There will be no moderator in the event. People can directly speak to and ask questions to the chief minister,” added the CMO.

The statement also said: “People can join the @karnatabala space to take part in this event.”

The official website of the social media platform says: “Spaces is a way to have live audio conversations on X.”

South tax movement: Why is Karnataka protesting against Union govt fiscal injustice?

The Congress’ protests

It may be noted that the Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government recently launched a series of protests in Delhi and social networking platforms against the perceived fiscal injustice and delay in releasing the drought relief funds by the Union government to Karnataka.

Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and other Cabinet ministers and Congress legislators staged a protest in Delhi on 7 February against the Union government over fiscal injustice.

Following the Karnataka government protest in Delhi, Kerala and Tamil Nadu leaders also staged protests in Delhi on 8 February against the fiscal injustice to their respective states.

It may also be noted that Siddaramaiah has been on the #AnswerMadiModi and #WakeUpPM campaigns on social networking sites since November last year.

Through them, the Chief Minister has been seeking answers from the Modi government over the injustices meted out to Karnataka in tax devolution, releasing of grants for Centrally-sponsored schemes, delay in drought relief funds, and other development issues concerning the state.

He also challenged the BJP that if his allegations of fiscal injustice proved false, he would take retirement from politics.

Also Read: Karnataka to seek South Indian voice in 16th Finance Commission

The BJP response

Meanwhile, BJP leaders continue to term the Congress’ protest and campaign as a false and misleading narrative.

The BJP leaders have also claimed that the state received more grants under Modi’s regime than the Manmohan Singh regime.

Earlier, Karnataka MLAs belonging to the saffron party declined Siddaramaiah’s invitation to participate in the fiscal injustice protests.

Then, as the Congress MLAs from Karnataka protested in Delhi on 7 February, Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya levelled allegations of fiscal irresponsibility against the Congress.