Political parties should set aside differences and work united for the autonomy of the states, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said in Kannur on Saturday. He was speaking in the seminar on Centre- State relations conducted as part of the 23rd Party Congress of CPI-M. He lashed at the BJP led NDA Government in the centre for violating all the federal norms trying to eliminate the federal nature of the country.
There won't be any problem if we act as their puppets. But, if we do good for the downtrodden, if we talk about new education programmes, state rights and social justice among others, they restrict our functioning in a big way. We need a joint council of the states to fight for our rights. We need a council for southern state Chief Ministers and similar ones for the other regions also. We should unite to protect the nations and its federal values.
`If the Nation is to be protected, first the state should be protected. Houses form streets, streets form villages and towns, they form districts which constitute states. But certain people and organisations forget the fact that India is a Union of States. The architects of our constitution called for autonomous state governments and a union government in the centre' - he said.
