"Will you place that letter in public domain...": MK Stalin questions FM Nirmala Sitharaman

New Delhi [India], April 13 : The debate between the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman continues as Stalin challenged the Finance Minister to put the letter sent to the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary, noting remarks of the discontinuation of paddy bonus, in the public domain.

Taking it to X, Stalin said that the letter sent by the Finance Minister to the Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu specifically mentions the consideration for the discontinuation of paddy bonus.

"In the letter your Ministry sent to the Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu, it is clearly stated that since the State's additional bonus for paddy has led to bumper production, the State government should consider discontinuing the bonus. I have not stated anything that is not present in that letter. Nor is there any need for me to," he wrote.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister further highlighted that the letter clearly asked the State government to "review the existing bonus policy of the State Government and consider discontinuing the bonus on paddy.

"While you have stated in your tweet that it is up to the State Governments to consider a bonus above MSP to paddy farmers and nobody has taken away such rights, the letter sent to us clearly asked us to review the existing bonus policy of the State Government and consider discontinuing the bonus on paddy,"

"If your current claim is true, will you place that letter in the public domain?" he asked.

The remarks came in response to Sitharaman's dismissal of MK Stalin's allegations that the central government has asked the state to stop incentives for paddy cultivation, calling them "factually baseless" and a "deliberate distortion."

Sitharaman said in a post on X that the Centre had merely suggested that states align their bonus policies with national priorities, such as encouraging crop diversification and achieving self-sufficiency in pulses and oilseeds. She emphasised that the declaration of a bonus over and above the Minimum Support Price (MSP) remains the prerogative of state governments.

Sitharaman accused Stalin of creating diversions to serve his "narrow, self-serving political interests" and urged him to adopt a positive approach and work in the national interest. "The farmers of Tamil Nadu deserve a government that works for their prosperity, not one that weaponises their anxieties for votes," she said.

Backing the Finance Minister's statement, the Ministry of Finance said that the communication sent to states was "an advisory to states and was not directive."

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