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BJP leader dies during protest against Karnataka petrol-diesel prices hike
BJP leader Bhanuprakash was 69 years old.
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MB Bhanuprakash, a senior BJP leader and former MLC, died of a cardiac arrest on Monday, during a protest by the party against the hike in petrol and diesel prices in Karnataka.
Who was Bhanuprakash?
Bhanuprakash was 69 years old. He had served as the BJP's state vice-president and district president. He led the protest in Karnataka's Shivamogga and addressed the workers before collapsing.
According to news agency PTI, Bhanuprakash collapsed after suffering cardiac arrest when he got into his car.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital but couldn't be saved.
BJP protest against price hike
On Monday, the BJP staged a statewide protest against the price hike.
On Saturday, the Karnataka government increased the sales tax on petrol and diesel, making the essential commodities costlier.
After the government's move, petrol prices went up by ₹3 per litre. Diesel prices went up by ₹3.5 per litre.
The protest took place at all the district headquarters of Karnataka.
In Bengaluru, the state capital, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra led the protest against the Congress government in Karnataka. He said the protest was organised against the anti-people stand of the state government.
"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), ₹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), ₹3,000 every month for unemployed graduate youth and ₹1,500 for diploma holders for two years (YuvaNidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti).
In the recently held Lok Sabha elections, the Congress won nine seats in Karnataka. The BJP won 17.
With inputs from PTI
