'Need money for guarantees...': Karnataka government defends petrol, diesel price hike

The Karnataka government has defended its move to increase fuel prices, saying it needs money to fund the Congress party's election "guarantees" and development in the state. "We need money for Guarantees and development, hence there has been an increase in fuel prices," State Minister for Commerce and Industries MB Patil reportedly said. He, however, said that despite the increase in fuel rates, petrol and diesel prices in Karnataka remain lower than in other states.

The Karnataka government has raised petrol prices by Rs 3 and diesel by Rs 3.5 per liter through increased sales tax. The BJP has opposed the fuel price hike decision, saying this will also push the prices of public transport and essential commodities. "It is causing the rise in prices. The Modi government is trying to control the prices. But the Karnataka government has suddenly increased the prices, due to which the prices of essential commodities used in daily life will increase. They (the state government) should take it back," Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said. 

Former Karnataka CM and BJP MP Jagadish Shettar said there was no money for the day-to-day development work and payment of the salary of the employees. "They (the state government) have taken steps to burden the common people by increasing the petrol and diesel prices. It is unreasonable." 

Jagadish Shettar blames the Congress party's five guarantees, which has put massive pressure on the exchequer. "Because of the guarantee schemes and free schemes, there is no money for the developmental work. We are not opposing guarantee schemes. But is it reasonable?" he asked. 

In a notification issued by the Finance Department, the Karnataka government has hiked sales tax on petrol 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 decision comes days after the Lok Sabha poll results, in which NDA bagged 19 out of 28 seats in Karnataka, while Congress won 9. 

Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra urged the chief minister to roll back the hike and threatened a state-wide protest by the party on Monday. He said the chief minister is not ready to accept that the financial situation of the state has deteriorated, but the hike in fuel prices proves it.

"The government is unable to run the administration because of guarantees, they are unable to get proper resources. The government should withdraw this decision (of fuel price hike)," he said. 

R Ashoka, Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, said this "anti-people" Congress government is taking revenge on Kannadigas for voting for BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. "Having emptied the state's coffers with its unscientific guarantee schemes the Congress government in Karnataka is going to fill the treasury by taxing the Kannadigas," he posted on 'X'.

Siddaramaiah has set aside Rs 52,009 crore for his government's five guarantee schemes this year. 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).

(With inputs from PTI)