BJP in Karnataka stages statewide demonstration against fuel price hike

Bengaluru: The opposition BJP in Karnataka on Monday staged a statewide demonstration against the hike in petrol and diesel prices.

The Karnataka government on Saturday hiked sales tax on fuel, which will make petrol and diesel costlier.

Petrol prices have gone up by Rs 3 per litre and diesel by Rs 3.5 per litre.

The agitation took place at all the district headquarters of the state.

In Bengaluru, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra led the agitation. He said the protest has been organised against the anti-people stand of the Congress government in Karnataka.

He charged that the hike in petrol and diesel prices will have a direct impact on all the sectors.

Due to the five guarantees, the state government was in a big financial burden. As a result, lot of development work had come to a halt, he said.

"The government realised that stopping the guarantees would result in public outrage. To continue these guarantees, the government did not have money, so it hiked the petrol and diesel prices," Vijayendra said.

The Congress government's five guarantee schemes are — 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), payment of cash in lieu of the additional 5 kg of rice to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for unemployed graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for diploma holders for two years (YuvaNidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti).

According to officials, the hike was aimed at resource mobilisation.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is also the finance minister, reviewed the state's revenue generation and fiscal position and took the decision.

The increase in fuel prices comes days after the Lok Sabha poll results, in which NDA got 19 out of 28 seats in Karnataka, with the BJP winning 17 and JD(S) 2. The ruling Congress in the state won nine seats.