Protest against BJP's double standards on price rise on April 17: DCM DK Shivakumar

Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar today said that a protest has been planned on April 17 under the leadership of CM Siddaramaiah against the price rise by the BJP government in the Centre and against the double standards of the BJP on the issue of price rise.

Addressing a press conference at the KPCC office, he said, "The protest would be organised at all district headquarters and at the Freedom Park in Bengaluru. The protest at the Freedom Park would be led by CM Siddaramaiah. AICC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala would also participate in the protests. We will disclose the nature of protests at the district levels soon."

Launching a tirade against the BJP, he said, "Do R Ashok and Vijayendra see price rise of only milk? Don't they see the price rise effected by the Centre. Their ‘Janakrosha yaatre’ is actually a protest against their own BJP government at the Centre.”

The Centre has given a gift to the state unit of the BJP by increasing the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG on the very day they are taking out a protest in the state on price rise. The BJP should put up a board that it is a protest against the price rise by the Centre."

"The price of crude oil has fallen by 4.23% on Wednesday and the base price of petrol is currently at Rs 42.60 per litre but the Centre has priced it at Rs 103 per litre. The diesel prices are at Rs 91. There is a tax of about 60% on fuel.”

"Our government has increased the price of milk to improve the lives of our farmers. The price of milk in Karnataka is still the lowest in the country. It is Rs 52 in Kerala, Rs 53 in Gujarat, Rs 55 in Delhi, Rs 52 in Maharashtra, Rs 58 in Telangana, Rs 60 in Assam, Rs 56 in Haryana, Rs 50 in Rajasthan, Rs 52 in Madhya Pradesh, Rs 56 in Punjab and Rs 56 in Uttar Pradesh,” he explained.

“The water tariff hike is very nominal. The garbage collection cess is lower than the rates fixed by the previous BJP government. We have taken into account the burden of price rise on the poor people. In fact, we have ear-marked Rs 52,000 crores for the guarantee schemes which is meant to ease the burden of price rise on the common people,” he added.

“The price of gold during the UPA government was Rs 28,000 for 10 grams and today it is Rs 92,000. The mobile phones which were around Rs 10,000 are around Rs 30,000 today. The dollar which was Rs 59 is today Rs 89. All these are controlled by the Centre. The price of tractor which was available for Rs 1.5 lakh is about Rs 5 lakh today. Who controls the prices of all these?”

“The Rs 80 toll on roads has become Rs 250. Doesn’t Ashok see all this? We are anti-farmer if we increase price of milk, but they are looting the people with so many charges in banks such as deposit fees, withdrawal fees, cheque book fees, etc. It has become a big scam as Mallikarjun Kharge was saying. The state BJP leaders must continue their protest. Why is that no one is talking about the loss due to the US tariff. The stock markets are tanking and yet no one is talking about it.”

When pointed out that it was the people who were suffering due to price rise by both the Congress and the BJP, he said, “That is why our government is spending Rs 52,000 crore through guarantee schemes.”

Asked about Basavaraj Rayareddy’s statement that Karnataka was No.1 in corruption, he said, “He has clarified that he had not issued such a statement. I will speak to him about it.”

Asked about the letter by the Contractors’ Association about certain ministers’ delaying bill payments, he said, “Let them complain about it to the Lokayukta and the government, we will initiate action. Our government doesn’t tolerate corruption. We have released 10-20% of the payments till now.”

Replying to a query on AICC meet in Ahmedabad, he said, “It was decided to empower grassroots leaders, initiate new programmes to protect the poor and downtrodden sections. The programme looks to give a new direction to the party.”

Asked about any discussion about the change of KPCC President, he said, “There is no change, some office-bearers will be appointed and some district presidents would be appointed. Other than that, there were no discussions about it.”

Asked about nomination for the Legislative Council, he said that the AICC General Secretary was visiting the State on April 17.

Asked about a letter written by some leaders about locating the second airport outside of Bengaluru, he said, “All places in Karnataka are same to me. They might have suggested this considering low land prices. The Centre would decide on the location, not us.”

Allegations against the CM

Asked about allegations of kickbacks in a mining scam against the CM, he said, “The allegations are politically motivated, there is no truth in it. No one can operate outside the legal framework. It is a false allegation.”

Asked about Kumaraswamy’s statement that he had tonnes of documents against him, he quipped, “Check with him when I can send the trucks to bring the documents against me.”