Karnataka government under fire over price hike

The Karnataka Congress government has already come under fire for raising the prices of commodities. Earlier this month, the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) had increased the price of milk by Rs 2, the second time in less than a year. The opposition BJP party termed the move as ‘anti-people’ and asked the Karnataka government to reconsider its decision.

Last month, the Siddaramaiah government revised the sales tax on petroleum products in the state, resulting in a hike in prices. The price of petrol has gone up by Rs 3, taking the cost per litre in Bengaluru to Rs 102.84, up from the previous rate of Rs 99.84. Similarly, the price of diesel has gone up by Rs 3.02, taking the cost per litre to Rs 88.95 from Rs 85.93.

‘Generating money after looting the state’: BJP hits back

Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla criticised the Karnataka government for the move and said that people will have to pay for the corruption of the Congress government. Terming the proposed cess as a “jiziya-like tax”, Poonawalla said, “The Karnataka government is planning to impose 2% cess on movie tickets and OTT subscription charges.”

“After the jiziya-like tax on milk, petrol, diesel, bus tickets, water for the people of Karnataka, now movie tickets are getting more expensive. Congress has looted Karnataka through scams like MUDA scam, Valmiki scam etc. and stupid guarantee schemes and now people have to pay for it,” Shehzad said in a post on X.

Karnataka Leader of Opposition R Ashoka said that the government’s reserves have dried up and that’s why they are levying such taxes to generate money. “The price of petrol, diesel and everything is going up. They have also levied a tax on cinemas and OTT subscriptions. This government has become a poor government. So there is no money. That’s why they are generating the money,” R Ashoka said, as quoted by ANI.