Fuel to GST: Centre-state relations may emerge as a rallying point for Oppn

Opposition chief ministers have made it clear that they would reduce tax rates on petrol and diesel if the Centre cleared their dues

Oil prices, resource sharing, and underlying issues of federalism are quickly emerging as an area of rising political contention in Centre-state relations.

This is not the first time opposition parties have come together on the issue of inequity between the Centre and the states. The last time around, in the 1980s, N T Rama Rao joined hands with such powerful provincial leaders as Jyoti Basu in West Bengal, H N Bahuguna in Uttar Pradesh, Sharad Pawar in Maharashtra, Farooq Abdullah in Jammu & Kashmir, and Devi Lal in Haryana to demand more powers — fiscal and administrative — for the