South India's 30 per cent GDP: Fighting for fair share amidst central neglect

South India has been at the forefront of contributing to India's GDP growth rate for over a decade now. Yet, this dynamic region was neglected by the Modi government, failing to release a fair share upon timely requirements by the southern states. The BJP-NDA party came into power when Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India in 2014. While this victory awakened hope in the hearts of millions of Indians, it simultaneously evoked fire between North and South states - a battle of divide.

For more than a decade now, BJP-NDA still doesn't have the majority in the South, excluding the current 2024 elections, which came out to be an expected story but with a twist. The result of the general elections gave a win-win ticket for all the BJP-supporting parties like Telugu Desam Party and Jana Sena Party. To date, although there are pitfalls and counterstrikes among the aforementioned parties, they all joined hands to form the biggest alliance ever to rule from the front.

Even so, if you see the bigger picture, both TDP, JSP and BJP need each other's support to make it to the cliff and to stay in power. Amid the election drama, the South Indian states noticed the injustice of the fair share of central funds offered to them despite their major contribution towards overall India's GDP growth rate.

Literacy, BJP's Political Interplay

South India has been growing rapidly, with the highest literacy rate, compared to Non-South Indian states. If you look at the average literacy rates of each South Indian state as of 2023, Kerala boasts a whopping 96.2 per cent, followed by Tamil Nadu with 80.1 per cent, Karnataka with 75.36per cent, and Telangana with 66.54 per cent, respectively. On average, South India's average literacy rate ranges anywhere between 75 per cent to 85 per cent approximately in 2024, as per some sources. The current average literacy rate of South India (2024) surpassed overall India's literacy rate of 74.04 cent as of the 2011 Census.

When you look at the average literacy rate of Non-South Indian states, like Bihar (61.8per cent), Rajasthan (67.1 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (67.7 per cent), and Madhya Pradesh (70.6 per cent), where BJP's domination is high, this part of the society is being played with cheap and cheerful political narratives. Here, the BJP has the upper hand, where they used the socio-economic conditions of these states to their advantage as a decoy to tune the minds of the people by promising improvement and development through novel welfare schemes. But this is not the case with the South Indian states, where the literacy rate has been skyrocketing perpetually.

People in the South have always been a step ahead in terms of understanding, which caused a stumbling block for the BJP party to become stronger in these regions. The regional parties in the respective southern states have established a strong foundation and trust in people's hearts, making it arduous for any other party to replace their seats. Before diving into BJP's interplay tactics, let's see the bigger picture of the South's political landscape.

GDP, foreign remittances, centre's funding amid calamities, Hindi belt

South Indian states pay hefty taxes to the central government annually, contributing substantially towards the development of the country at large. In return, these states aren't getting what they deserve from the centre. Although states like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat, are some of the leading tax contributors in India, they are getting a considerable share in return.

According to the state-wise distribution of net proceeds of Union Taxes and Duties records 2023-2024, Uttar Pradesh bagged the highest funding of 198135.05 Crores, followed by Bihar with 111089.98 crores. These two states received a major share from the centre compared to all the other states in India. South Indian states such as Andhra Pradesh received 44698.99 crores, Kerala received 21261.54 crores, Telangana received 23216.52 crores, Karnataka received 40280.88, and Tamil Nadu received 45052.53 crores respectively.

As per the latest CEIC records for the GDP contribution of India, here are the stats of South Indian states: Andhra Pradesh achieved 4.874 per cent in 2024 against 4.837 per cent in 2023, Kerala recorded 3.882 per cent in 2023, Karnataka with 8.467 per cent in 2024 compared to 8.423 per cent in 2023, Telangana with 4.957 per cent in 2024 as opposed to 4.854 per cent in 2023, and Tamil Nadu clocking up to 9.142 per cent in 2024 versus 8.774 per cent in 2023. Looking at the GDP figures of the Non-South Indian states, especially where BJP has the highest number of seats: Bihar recorded a GDP contribution of 2.788 per cent in 2023, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 8.626 per cent in 2024, Punjab with 2.493 per cent in 2024, Delhi with 3.751 per cent in 2024, and so on.

Even if the total accumulation of North's or East's GDP contribution doesn't make it closer to 30 per cent of the South's overall GDP contribution, the central government has been splurging a mickle of funds to the aforementioned Non-South Indian states over the last decade. Whether it's production tourism or research and development, South India has been at the front in the driver's seat. Though there are caste differences, the regional parties never stepped back into investing in education, hence, making a huge difference in the South as opposed to Non-South States.

To date, South Indian areas like Bengaluru and Telangana are still the two powerhouses of the IT industry, attracting millions of foreign investments every year. As per the UNCTAD's World Investment Report 2023, only 5 states received the highest FDI equity inflows, including Maharashtra bags 29 per cent, followed by Karnataka in the second place with 24per cent, next comes Gujarat at 17per cent, Delhi attains 13per cent, and Tamil Nadu receives 5per cent, respectively. The FDI inflows for both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu account for 29per cent, which is nearly one-third of the total investment. These stats depict the natural inquisitiveness of foreign entities to invest in South India.

As far as the foreign remittances go, South Indian states stood at the acme despite the deadly pandemic hit and changes in foreign policies across the world. According to the World Bank press release report 2023, India took the first place in foreign remittances, standing at $125 billion, followed by Mexico with $67 billion and China with $50 billion, respectively. South states like Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh (AP) have contributed 36per cent, accounting for $45 billion, to the foreign remittances reserves of India.

Despite such incredible outcomes generated by South India, the BJP-in-power hasn't done anything, especially during the Kerala floods in 2018. During this stage, Kerala required Rs 8000+ crores to revamp the entire state but the centre allocated only Rs 100 crores. In 2019, God's city again got flushed due to severe floods. The centre released Rs 5900 crores for flood-affected states, however, Kerala was winnowed out from their funding books just because the state was ruled by the left-wing political party. Keralites didn't take this response very well and the Left-wing ruling government cast aspersions on the centre's chauvinistic decision on this devastating case.

A similar situation arose in Karnataka in 2018 and continued getting hammered by the floods till 2022. The Karnataka State Flood Risk Management Action Plan 2022 reports showcased that 2.18 lakh houses in Karnataka have been destroyed by floods during the period 2018-2022. The Karnataka government has put forth their funding request of Rs 8000 crore to the centre for redevelopment of their state but the union sanctioned only Rs 546 crores, less than one-fourth of the total damages.

From 2018 to 2023, South India faced several cataclysmic hassles, starting with floods in Kerala, followed by cyclones in Tamil Nadu, and then drought in Karnataka. The centre remained numb, hence, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments joined hands to drag this situation to the Supreme Court. The centre has delayed the relief funds to these calamity-hit states, making them suffer amid these arduous times. Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister M.K. Stalin asked the centre to provide relief funds of Rs 37,907 crores, however, they sanctioned only Rs 276.10 crores, which is not even half of the requested amount.

Speaking about the elephant in the room, CPM's Madurai Lok Sabha candidate Su Venkatesan said "What BJP has towards Tamil Nadu is not anger. It is hatred, endless hatred." The approved amount was Rs 682.67 crore but releasing only a paltry of Rs Rs 276.10 crore is nothing but partisanship played by the BJP government. The alarming rise of unfair treatment in the Southern states of India triggered several political leaders.

Post-Union Budget 2024, the Former Congress MP D.K. Suresh made a controversial statement in response stating that South Indian states would propose for a separate nation if things between the current ruling government (BJP) and our states continue in this manner. He further said that the taxes collected from South Indian states are doled out in North Indian states, which is deemed to be unjust in the eyes of the nation.

While the BJP's discriminatory treatment towards South India continues, focusing more on Hindi-speaking states, DK Suresh's brother and Karnataka Deputy CM, DK Shivakumar commented, "The entire country is one. We cannot only focus on the Hindi belt. In this budget, there is an imbalance in financial distribution. Karnataka contributes significantly to the Centre's revenue, yet there are no major announcements for the entire South India. We feel let down, but we are Indians. India should remain united. There is no question of demanding anything based on regions."

Cultural and linguistic differences, strong regional parties

Every state in India has its own culture and dialect differences and the people of their respective states take pride in their diversity. In the 37th Parliamentary Official Language Committee meeting, run by the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, he said, that Hindi should be acknowledged and used as a national language of India across states for communication purposes as a substitute for English.

Convincing this in Hindi-speaking lands has been an easy-peasy task for Modi's BJP government but this precipitated a brawl in the non-Hindi-speaking Indian states. These are simply political strategies played by the BJP to attract Hindi-speaking people, gaining their trust for extra votes in future elections. As per certain 2011 census reports, only 43.63per cent per cent speak Hindi, including less fluent Hindi speakers. Some of the sources state that only 25per cent - 30per cent speak Hindi fluently, which is less than one-third of India. Each dialect of each state has its value and purpose of usage.

Language shouldn't build walls between states but instead, unite to form a diversified nation that celebrates the rich culture of distinct nations and embraces the unique linguistics of various states across India. Most importantly, a language should create comfort for the people to share and communicate their thoughts, views, perspectives, and opinions towards any issue, and not widen the gaps between each other or the states within the same nation.

As per the Constitution of India, 1949, it was stated that English and Hindi can be used as an official language to communicate all the government matters and proceedings of the nation. The BJP government has been pushing the buttons of non-Hindi speaking states but failed terribly, particularly Tamil Nadu, where some people lit themselves on fire to oppose this dominant linguistic imposition. In response, the Union, without any ado, took back the order to calm down the matter.

In Jan 2024, the Tamil Nadu BJP President, K Annamalai, said that the state government would soon incorporate a third language, Hindi, in their system as a part of the NEP. Yet, the state government, at the drop of a hat, refused to consider the implementation of the new change in the education policy. This exhibits the sentiment South Indian states carry towards their native local language.

Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, the father of the Dravidian Movement, has laid a robust foundation of Dravidian ideology, etching in the hearts and souls of the Tamil Nadu people. The National Party (Congress) and the Regional Party of Tamil Nadu (DMK), are speaking and focusing on the same lines such as social justice, federalism, etc., whereas the BJP is going against Tamil Nadu's wind to demolish the already established beliefs that were concreted for decades now.

After Lavanya's suicide case, which was caused due to struggling mental health, as per the video leaked sources before her demise, the BJP capitalised on this gut-wrenching situation and turned it into a sea of religious squabble for their Hindu conversions and cheap political gains. The BJP has been trying hard to enter the land of South India but somehow their Hindu imperialism and forcible imposition of one nation's culture isn't opening their doors to a wider audience.

BJP & general elections, delimitation of constituencies

The election success of the BJP in South India is more like a roasted chicken, and not fried chicken. For the last few decades, from 2009 to date, the track record of BJP's footing in South India is nowhere closer to half of its seats. In 2011, the BJP won zero seats in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, kicking them empty-handed from the South streets. In 2016, they only won one seat in Kerala and again zero seats in TN, leaving the result the same. In 2019, the BJP won just 29 seats out of 129 total seats in the South. This is again a bummer for the national party.

In 2024, there was a bit of added luck for the BJP in the South, especially in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The actor-turned-politician and the founder of the Jana Sena Party (JSP), Pawan Kalyan, has joined hands with Nara Chandrababu Naidu, TDP, and this produced unthinkable outcomes, which helped the BJP to permeate into the Andhra region. This South state has a considerable hand in BJP's trounce this general election in 2024. They also gained the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat, which led them to a fresh start in Kerala in the 2024 elections. However, Karnataka didn't bend its back, and remained with heads high and a straight backbone, not allowing BJP to enter their boundary. Even the Tamil Nadu government sent BJP empty-handed. Though the BJP has grounded its flags deeply inside South soil, it didn't create any favourable impression of this party in the minds of the people.

Since 1970, the delimitation of the Indian Parliament has been frozen regardless of the population surge. However, Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Bihar have always been the heart and soul of the BJP, as these two highly populated states put up 120 seats out of 543 seats in the Lok Sabha. Take Andhra Pradesh for instance, the state has 9.46 Crores people, with 25 MPs leading from the front. Here, one MP represents 37.84 Lakh people. When it comes to UP, the current population (2024) stands at 25.70 Crores, with 80 MPs. Here, one MP represents 0.32125 Crores people.

The current capacity of India's new parliament comprises 888 seats of which only 543 have been filled so far. The Delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies will likely happen in 2026/27, which would benefit Bihar with 79 seats (from 40), UP with 143 seats (from 80), Tamil Nadu with only 10 seats, and Kerala with null, respectively. This paints the big picture that despite the delimitation the North allows BJP to take the upper hand as opposed to the South. If the delimitation process is done only on the basis of population, then the southern states would be in the deep waters. Commenting on this issue, DMK IT Wing once tweeted "Delimitation and Democracy must go hand in hand in a country which takes electoral representation seriously." Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai was also hostile about the delimitation conditions.

Will the South states continue to fight back for justice concerning fair share in terms of funding, policies, delimitation, and other key North-South divide issues?