THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a novel protest against the budget proposal on fuel cess, the Opposition UDF legislators will walk to the assembly on Thursday. The UDF MLAs will avoid vehicle travel on their way to the assembly from the MLA hostel in the morning.
On Wednesday the Opposition boycotted the assembly proceedings after Finance Minister K N Balagopal made clear in the House that there won’t be any rollback on the new tax proposals, including the `2 fuel cess. Soon after the minister replied to the budget discussions in the assembly, Opposition leader V D Satheesan announced the UDF protest.
Satheesan said the budget lacks direction. “The budget should have been prepared keeping in mind the socio-economic realities. But the tax proposals will affect the state’s economy. In fact the failure in tax collection is what led to the financial crisis in the state,” said Satheesan.