BJP's policy is responsible for price hike: MLC Ivan D'Souza

Mangaluru: MLC Ivan D’Souza said that the policy of the BJP government at the Centre is directly responsible for price hike. To counter the Opposition BJP’s ongoing Janakrosha Yatre in protest against the Congress led government in the State, the Karnataka Congress has decided to launch its protest against the NDA Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the hike in prices of fuel and essential commodities.

The protest will be held at Bengaluru on April 17 and in Mangaluru and Udupi on April 22. The protests will be held in all the districts against the central government’s policy.

He alleged that the BJP leaders were staging protests to prove their identity and existence in the state. In reality, they should have held a protest against the Central government for hiking the prices of petrol, diesel, and LPG. The root cause of hike in price of essential commodities is the hike in price of petrol and diesel, he added.

He urged the Centre to reduce the cess on petrol and diesel. The state budget had not hiked the prices of any essential commodities in the state.

He challenged the BJP leaders to come for an open discussion on price hike and come out with a white paper on who is responsible for price hike. The state government gives Rs 2,000 under guarantee scheme for women and the centre takes it away by hiking the price of LPG cylinder.

Make stand clear

The MLC urged the BJP to make its stand clear on whether the caste census data is required or not. The state cabinet has accepted the report, which will be discussed in length on April 17. Why the BJP is making fuss over the report, when they only appointed Jayaprakash Hegde as the chairman of the Backward Classes Commission.

Out of 6.38 crore population in the state, 5.90 crore have been covered under the survey. Inspite of it, the BJP MLAs have been claiming that enumerators had not visited their houses. The BJP is scared of revealing the educational, social status of the people. They are scared that it will backfire them. The survey report will help the government in bringing backward communities to the mainstream and also giving equal share to all. It will help in knowing the pulse of the people.

Murder condemned

Ivan D’Souza condemned the murder of auto driver Mohammed Sharief. Lauding the Kerala and Karnataka police for cracking the case by arresting the accused, he urged the police to provide protection to auto drivers who work at night. All precautionary measures should be taken to check such incidents do not recur again. He urged the state government to announce financial assistance for the family of the deceased auto driver.