Federalism should be topic of national discourse: Thomas Isaac

Former Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac on Saturday said federalism has to be a topic of national discourse as there are efforts to undermine the federal structure.

The comments of Isaac, also a senior CPI(M) leader, come against the backdrop of ongoing tensions between governors of Kerala and Tamil Nadu with the respective state governments over various issues.

Taking a dig at the Centre, Isaac said there is a government that does not believe in diversity and that there are efforts to homogenise the country.

''Every opportunity is made to undermine the federal system.. it is a terrible situation,'' Isaac said, adding that federalism has to be a topic of national discourse.

Isaac was delivering the fifth LC Jain Memorial Lecture on 'The Challenges of Federalism: Negotiating Centre State Tensions'.

LC Jain was a Gandhian activist and writer.

Referring to the tensions between Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and the state government, Isaac said that such a thing has never happened before and that there was civility in discourse.

The function was organised by the LC Jain family and the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)