Govt indulging in 'coercive' federalism by eroding independence of states, alleges Cong
GST
Dated:- 20-9-2025
PTI
New Delhi, Sep 20 (PTI) The Congress on Saturday accused the government of indulging in “coercive” federalism by eroding independence of states and reducing them to municipalities while citing a CAG report that claimed debt on states has risen to nearly Rs 60 lakh crore in 10 years.
\nCongress general secretary Randeep Surjewala claimed that India's federalism is under “unprecedented strain”.
\nIn a post on X, he said states already carrying debt levels that have “tripled in a decade” and are now being stripped of their “fiscal independence” through the government's handling of GST compensation cess and “arbitrary” cen<\/p>\n
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\n“This is not cooperative federalism. It is 'coercive federalism' that undermines democracy itself by 'unionising power' in the Centre and leaving States to collapse under debt and dependency,” the Congress general secretary said.
\nHe said as “Coercive federalism” converts states into “glorified municipal committees”, there are 12 issues to ponder over.
\nClaiming that Rs 1,70,000 crore is collected every year from “cesses and surcharges”, he aid the Centre keeps it and states get nothing.
\n“If merged with GST, States would get their share. Today, they are denied.” \tSurjewala also said “Compensation Cess” was create<\/p>\n