New Delhi: Telangana chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has said that the Union government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is guided by a “conspiratorial, frivolous doctrine of a strong centre and weak states.”He said the alleged “conspiracy” was best seen in the Union government’s efforts to “wreck the financial condition of states.”The chief minister was speaking at an official function organised by the state government in Hyderabad on Thursday, June 2, to mark the eighth anniversary of Telangana statehood.The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief has lately been sharpening his attack on the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi while advocating for a coalition of sorts by the regional parties to replace BJP and Congress at the helm of affairs in Delhi. He recently met Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, among other opposition leaders.Also read: KCR Declares National Ambitions, Says ‘Alternative Agenda’ Needed to Counter ‘Divisive’ BJPWhile pointing out that as democracies mature the normal course would be to decentralise powers and empower states, KCR, however, lamented that the opposite had happened in India, due to further centralisation. He alleged that the current Union government was stripping states of their powers guaranteed to them under the State List of the constitution.“The constitution of India gives the states considerable political, legislative, administrative and autonomous powers. All the governments that have been in power at the Centre so far have eroded the spirit of the constitution and eroded the autonomy of the states. Powers drained shamelessly… The State List is dwindling. The autonomy of the states enshrined in the constitution is becoming nominal,” he said.Speaking of the alleged “conspiracy” by the Union government to wreck the financial condition of states, he said:“The present Central government is shifting taxes in the form of cess to evade the constitutionally due share of the states from the taxes levied by the Centre. It is a known fact that the Centre is squandering millions of crores of rupees due to the states… The Centre’s attitude has become a stumbling block for states like Telangana… I demand that the Centre immediately reconsider and immediately lift the economic sanctions imposed on the states and stop any further violation of the rights of the states.”The chief minister also spoke about the “politics of hate” afflicting the country. “Today the country is in a dangerous situation. The country is beset by politics of hate. There is no other discussion or debate in the country other than the religious madness. People’s needs took a backseat. It is dangerous to gain political advantage out of communal clashes. If the destructive elements are allowed to have their say, the unity of the country will suffer.”Calling for a qualitative change in the politics of the country, KCR said, “It is not important who will come to power at the Centre every five years. It is not about one Front replacing another at the Centre. What we need is a progressive agenda, which can steer the country away from its problems. The country needs a new destination. There should be a meaningful and practical change in the lives of people. There should be a qualitative change in the country.”Many in the state see KCR’s aggressive attack on the BJP lately as an effort to enfeeble the BJP which is gaining ground in Telangana as a dominant political force.