The new NDA government is flexing centralizing muscles

livemint.com:

If the poetic assertion of morning showing the day holds true, then first-day statements uttered by ministers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should illuminate India’s political path ahead. From all indications available, it is likely that the notion of cooperative federalism will be put to severe test. The government’s governance structure, despite hopes springing from the return of coalition politics, could lapse into its default mode of overt centralization.

Sample statements from two freshly-anointed senior ministers. Diplomat-turned-politician Hardeep Singh Puri, appointed petroleum minister, said on his first day in office that petrol and diesel should be brought under the goods and services tax (GST) regime, something that states have been opposing. Currently, alcohol and petroleum products—such as, petrol, diesel, natural gas and aviation fuel—are subject to state-imposed and collected value-added and sales taxes, which differ from state to state.

States are reluctant to cede taxation control over petro-products and alcohol because these remain key revenue sources. This assumes importance because many states, especially those with non-BJP governments, have been complaining of the Centre’s discriminatory treatment. These states have been protesting that their share in the divisible central tax pool does not reach them on time, or their dues from central schemes (such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee) have been held back or sometimes even denied outright.