Namely, three chief ministers- Pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala, Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, and Hemant Soren of Jharkhand. In three days, three CMs questioned the center.
Highlights of the three CMs concern:
- First, abdication by the center on one side.
- Second, Overreach on the other side.
The CM’s of West Bengal and Kerala asked their counterparts in other states to join. They want to join forces to assert their rights.
The CM of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, wrote to the CMs of 11 states.
To illustrate Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Delhi, Punjab, and Maharashtra.
Two possibilities that can occur based on the situation:
- A united resistance from the states against the center’s unilateralism.
- The Center’s take or response to this conflict.
The CM of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee added that the center is behaving like autocrats. She compared the center’s behavior to Adolf Hitler. She appealed to all the government of states, the opposition leaders, IAS, IPS officers, NGOs to fight this battle together. News agency PTI quoted her saying.
Why did this conflict begin?
Recently, in an unprecedented move, the Centre attached the services of the West Bengal Chief Secretary. It was done without his concurrence or that of the State Government.
How according to the states the vaccine policy burden them?
The CM of West Bengal put an allegation to the Centre and the BJP. She said they are trying to paralyze her government by all means.
The CM of Kerala and Jharkhand have also questioned the Centre’s vaccine drive. They added that it had put immense pressure on the state government.
Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan wrote about the vaccine policy. He said it is unfortunate to see that the Centre is absolving from its responsibility to provide an adequate supply of the vaccine. Also, it was when India was facing the second wave.
What was the concern about the dual-pricing policy?
Notably, two Indian manufacturers sell the vaccine to the Centre at Rs 150 (per dosage). The States are getting the vaccine at Rs. 300 for Covishield and Rs. 600 for Covaxin.
Also, the center’s vaccination policy does not cover the 18-45 age group. Health workers are the only exception to the policy.
The state of West Bengal had questioned the dual-pricing policy. It was done in an affidavit filed in the supreme court.
Mr. Vijayan, the CM of Kerala, wrote a letter to the center dated 29th May. He said that it a genuine demand from the states. The center should procure vaccines and give them to the states for free. It will be the optimum and most cost-effective thing to do.
Mr. Soren, the CM of Jharkhand, wrote to the center dated 31st of May. He wrote it was the first time in the history of independent India that states had to procure vaccines on their own. He also added, under challenging times such an attitude stands against federalism.
A comment was also made that Non-BJP Chief Ministers should think before questioning the Centre. An allegation on CBI, the ED, the NIA, and the IT department have been biased and aggressive with opponent parties.
What is the take on the differential treatment of the CBI?
To illustrate, the biased behavior of CBI against BJP and TMC accused same corruption case is visible. The Centre will not mind doing the same with others as well. The three CMs have similar allegations to the center.
Some CMs are of opinion that being friendly with the center will be beneficial for them. For example, the CM of Andhra Pradesh came to PM Modi’s support. It was because the CM of Kerala said that PM Modi didn’t listen to the CMs during a recent meeting on COVID.
To summarize, Arvind Kejriwal, the CM of Delhi is not open to supporting anyone. It is because he is yet to receive the Centre’s
Support. Although, he had supported the other CMs earlier this time he didn’t return a similar gesture.
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