BENGALURU: While the discussion over price rise created a ruckus in the Assembly on Monday, Congress MLAs staged a walkout in protest against the reply given by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
Bommai had stated that the NDA had procured more grains and constructed more roads compared to the UPA. Bommai added that monetisation was not started by the NDA, but by the UPA, which had monetised the Mumbai-Pune Expressway for Rs 80,000 crore and had also proposed to monetise Delhi Railway Station. “The sales tax was not reduced when the Congress government was ruling the state... What moral rights do you have to demand that the sales tax be reduced now?” the chief minister questioned.
India is not a petrol-producing country, but one that consumes it. Whenever there is a change in crude oil prices, it will have an impact on prices here, Bommai said, pointing out the reason for the hike in petrol prices. Referring to the percentage of hike over the decades, Bommai said, “It was 55% in 2000 compared to 1993, 70% in 2007 compared to 2000, and 60% in 2014 compared to 2007. The latest one which the Congress is complaining about is the 30% increase in 2021 compared to 2014, which is the lowest compared to the previous years”.
Bommai questioned as to why Opposition leader Siddaramaiah had not reduced the sales tax when he was the CM, to which the Congress strongman replied that the fuel prices had not touched Rs 100 then, and even the Opposition did not demand it as such. Bommai’s remark that “no one in the Congress can even come closer to Narendra Modi” created an uproar in the House and members of both the national parties engaged in a war of words. Later, the Congress MLAs, led by Siddaramaiah, walked out of the House shouting slogans against the BJP and the price hike.