“Is Karnataka Facing Tax Injustice?” CM Siddaramaiah Targets Centre, Questions BJP Silence
Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has launched a sharp political attack on the Union Government, raising serious questions over what he termed as “tax injustice” against the state and asking whether BJP leaders have the courage to respond.
In a strongly worded press statement, Siddaramaiah questioned the Centre’s revenue-sharing model, stating, “For every one rupee contributed by Kannadigas in taxes, only 15 paise is returned. Should this be called tax terrorism or tax plunder?”
He highlighted that in the last financial year alone, the Union Government collected over ₹4.50 lakh crore from Karnataka through taxes, cess, and surcharges, while the state received only ₹79,000 crore in return. Despite repeatedly raising the issue over the past three years, including protests in Delhi, the Chief Minister alleged that BJP leaders from the state failed to defend Karnataka’s interests.
Siddaramaiah also pointed to Karnataka’s strong performance under the GST regime, noting that the state ranks second in total GST collections and first in growth rate with a 17% increase. However, he claimed that the state receives only about 52% in return, blaming flawed GST implementation for causing significant financial losses running into thousands of crores.
The Chief Minister further accused the Centre of weakening Karnataka’s financial position by reducing its share under the Finance Commission, withholding cess and surcharge revenues, failing to compensate GST losses, and underfunding centrally sponsored schemes. He argued that these factors have forced the state to depend on borrowing.
“If Karnataka gets its rightful share, we can manage finances without borrowing even a single rupee,” Siddaramaiah asserted, throwing a challenge to BJP leaders.
He also underlined that Karnataka is the second-largest contributor to the national tax pool after Maharashtra, yet its share has steadily declined over the years.
Taking aim at BJP criticism over state debt, Siddaramaiah said leaders were ignoring the rising national debt. He noted that India’s debt has increased from ₹51.06 lakh crore in 2014 to ₹214 lakh crore in the 2026–27 Budget, placing an average burden of ₹1.5 lakh per citizen.
“This burden also falls on the seven crore people of Karnataka,” he said, urging BJP leaders to acknowledge these realities before making political statements.
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