Thursday’s protest in Delhi led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his coterie of LDF ministers marked a new chapter in the ongoing animosity between the opposition coalition and BJP. The protest attained national headlines not just for the CM’s presence but also for the support extended by Tamil CM and AAP leaders including Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.

The protest has successfully revitalized the mood among the INDIA coalition, while the central government has again got inside the dock for its alleged ‘federal tyranny’. On Wednesday, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar led a protest against central neglect at the same venue. Karnataka too had a similar complaint akin to Kerala that the central government is suffocating the state without providing any financial assistance.

With the protest, the topic of BJP government at the centre wantonly targeting non-BJP-ruled states is back again in the debate. All states ruled by opposition parties are unanimous in this regard. BJP is ruling seventeen states in the country. There is a basis for allegations as BJP states get all kinds of pampering and financial aid while opposition-ruled states have to kowtow before the centre to get hold of the financial help they deserve.

“The protest is not meant to defeat the central government. We are conducting this protest to ensure justice to the people of Kerala who are suffering from the central government’s neglect in all areas of the state” Pinarayi Vijayan said while inaugurating the protest at Jantar Mantar.

Due to this central government neglect, Kerala is said to have suffered economically and also in terms of development for the past seven years. The Chief Minister's declaration that Kerala will firmly protest against the central approach and policies that are not in line with federalism is sure to reach the inner courts of parliament and also into the ears of the top echelons of government.

Kerala is enduring huge losses in the Finance Commission's share, GST compensation, grants to reduce fiscal deficit and reduction in credit limit. Considering this, one cannot just simply rule out the protest in terms of politicking. Some reasons seem pertinent.