New Delhi:
J Jayalalithaa has attacked the central government for not giving her state, Tamil Nadu, financial assistance. In a speech read out by her representative at a meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) this morning, 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.
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".