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WATCH | Tear gas, water cannons as Cong workers, cops clash over Kerala budget
Kerala budget protests: Last week members of the Congress' youth wing gathered outside a guesthouse in Kochi - where chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan was staying - and waved black flags.
Congress workers and police clashed in Kerala's Kochi Tuesday morning amid vociferous protests by the opposition party against the ruling CPIM's budget.
A video shared by news agency ANI showed a small crowd of male and female protesters held at bay by large police barricades and being drenched with a water cannon as they shout slogans. The video also showed more protesters arriving waving a Congress flag. According to ANI police also fired tear gas shells to disperse protesters and restore a measure of order.
Yesterday too there were protests by Congress workers - in state capital Thiruvananthapuram - against the budget, and water cannons were used.
Last week Congress youth wing workers gathered outside a guesthouse in Kochi - where chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan was staying - and waved black flags.
The protesters were detained swiftly as security had been enhanced in the area in the wake of an earlier agitation. A video shared by ANI showed police taking protesters into custody as they shouted anti-government slogans.
It was not immediately clear if the CM was in residence at the time.
READ | Congress workers wave black flags outside CM Vijayan's guest house
Protests erupted Friday too - after the state presented its FY24 budget.
On that occasion workers from both the Indian Youth Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party's Yuva Morcha protested in Thiruvananthapuram.
The budget has drawn fierce criticism over a proposed 'social security cess' on the sale of fuel, motorcycles and liquor, and the supply of electricity.'
Finance minister KN Balagopal held the centre responsible for the state's financial situation as he introduced taxes that will raise the prices of petrol, diesel and liquor, and make land and vehicle registration more expensive.
READ | Kerala budget proposes 'social security cess' on fuel, vehicles, liquor
The 'social security cess' includes surcharges of ₹2 on fuel, ₹20 to ₹40 on each bottle of liquor sold, and an additional two per cent on motorcycles priced up to ₹2 lakh.
The proposals have (predictably) not gone down well with the opposition.
Congress leader P Chidambaram slammed the budget as a 'Faustian bargain' and the BJP's state boss, K Surendran, has called for a protest march on Thursday.
With input from ANI
