Govt rubbishes Jayalalithaa's charge, says no discrimination

Kolkata: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has rubbished Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's charge that non-Congress states are being discriminated against by the Centre.

"This is absolutely wrong. It was expected that she should have come (National Development Council) and make her press statement but she did not come," Mr Mukherjee said.

Ms Jayalalithaa had attacked the Centre for not giving her state financial assistance. In a speech read out by her representative at a meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) yesterday, the Chief Minister said the Centre is "fascist and anti-democratic".

The NDC is headed by the Prime Minister and includes all chief ministers; it helps frame policy for the balanced development of different parts of the country. Jayalalithaa described the meeting as "a ritualistic exercise in futility".

She said citizens in states where the Congress is not in power are given "step-motherly treatment". She cited the example of West Bengal, where Mamata Banerjee, who is a key partner of the UPA coalition, has got financial aid while Tamil Nadu has been ignored.

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She also accused the government of trying to encroach upon the powers of state governments - interference that she said amounts to "and reducing the state (governments) to the status of glorified Municipal Commission Corporations".

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