‘Tax money looted by Congress govt’: Kumaraswamy on Karnataka fuel price hike

The Karnataka government on Saturday increased sales tax on petrol and diesel, resulting in a hike in their prices.

Published on: Jun 16, 2024, 19:18:24 IST

By HT News Desk

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Union minister HD Kumaraswamy lashed out at the Congress-led Karnataka government after it hiked petrol and diesel prices by ₹3 per litre.

“I urge the people of the state that your tax money is being looted by this (Congress) government...I urge the people of the state to protest at a large level,” the Janata Dal (Secular) leader was quoted by ANI as saying.

The opposition JD(S) and Bharatiya Janata Party are up in arms against the Siddaramaiah-led government over the decision to hike fuel price after Lok Sabha election results.

However, chief minister Siddaramaiah has ruled out any link between fuel price hike and election results. “Nothing is connected to the election results, wins and losses are common in democracy. I don't say we didn't lose, we lost. We didn't get the results that we expected, people didn't bless us as we expected,” Siddaramaiah was quoted by ANI as saying.

“As far as petrol and diesel prices are concerned, it has nothing to do with election results. In 2021, on petrol, there was a 31% tax, and on diesel, there was a 24% tax when BJP was ruling. They used to impose a sales tax of 35%, now as the centre decreased prices they brought it to 25.92%,” he added.

The Karnataka government on Saturday increased sales tax on petrol and diesel, resulting in a hike in their prices. According to the Finance department, the sales tax on petrol has been increased by 3.92 percentage points, from 25.92 to 29.84 per cent. On diesel, the hike is 4.1 percentage points, from 14.34 to 18.44 per cent.

The BJP has announced its decision to protest across the state against the Karnataka government. “We urge the Chief Minister to withdraw this decision immediately. Tomorrow we have organised protests across the state and we are not going to keep quiet till the hike is revoked,” Karnataka BJP chief BY Vijayendra said.

Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries H D Kumaraswamy. (PTI)

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