It is not only on constitutional grounds, but also on political grounds that I am opposed to this article. It is risky, it is dangerous to give wider autonomy to the provinces. I am convinced that the only reason why we are making provision for this article in our Constitution is that the majority of Members of this House are champions of State rights. The fact is that all the provinces and the Indian States, whatever constitutional status we may confer on them, are the agents and servants of the Government of India. Let us not blink at these facts. There is one party ruling in this country and there is not the slightest possibility of any other party coming into power or of the provinces becoming autonomous. They are all knit together under the aegis under the leadership of the Congress Party. There is neither historical nor constitutional justification for vesting this power of taxation into the hands of the States. A realistic approach of the situation would entitle us to subject the property and income of a State to Union taxation.
