Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa spares citizens, announces no new taxes in Budget

Petrol and diesel prices are set to remain the same after the CM announced that there would be no new taxes levied by the state

Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Monday spared citizens by not announcing any new taxes while presenting the state Budget 2021.

Here are the highlights of the Karnataka Budget

During the Budget Speech, he said, "I am not willing to put the burden of additional taxes on the common people. State Government levies Karnataka Sales Tax (KST) on petrol and diesel. This is already lesser compared to other southern states. Despite this, in the 2021-2022 Budget, no taxes including Karnataka State Tax on petrol and diesel has been increased and Budget has been formulated in such a way so as not to increase the financial burden on the common man."

Meanwhile, the Opposition Congress on Monday staged a walkout during the tabling of the budget for 2021-22 by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, claiming that the BJP government in the state had no moral right to continue in power.

Yediyurappa who also holds the Finance Portfolio presented the state budget, his eighth in the legislative assembly Monday.

Here are the key takeaways of the Karnataka Budget

The Chief Minister said, the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) has seen a fall due to lockdown for controlling the Covid-19 pandemic during the year 2020-21, and as per the initial estimation based on fixed prices the GSDP has contracted by 2.6 per cent in comparison with that of 2019-20.

He further stated that in spite of Covid and the occurrence of floods in North Karnataka during 2020-21, growth of 6.4 per cent is observed in the agriculture sector and said however, the industrial and service sector witnessed a decline.

"During 2020-21 contraction in the industrial sector is 5.1 per cent and in the service sector is 3.1 per cent," he added.

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"This government carrying a bundle of sins has no moral right to continue in power. So we have decided to protest against the presentation of the budget," former chief minister Siddaramaiah told reporters here. He charged that the Chief Minister, who holds the Finance portfolio and the Mines and Geology Minister Murugesh Nirani were out on bail in a criminal case relating to creation of bogus documents to take back Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) land at Devanahalli in Bengaluru.

Siddaramaiah, who is Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, also said six other ministers approached the civil court seeking an injunction against the telecast or publication of any defamatory material against them by the media following the sex-for-job allegation against the BJP MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi who had to step down as minister. "After the telecast of Ramesh Jarkiholi (objectionable video clip), these six ministers including Shivaram Hebbar, M B Patil, Dr Sudhakar are in fear. What's their fear? Shouldn't there be some basis behind the fear?" he said.

(With inputs from PTI)