Kochi (Kerala) [India]Feb 9 (ANI): Kerala Police on Thursday detained Bharatiya Janata Party workers who were protesting against the state budget in Kochi.
BJP workers staged a protest against the Left government’s refusal to roll back the tax proposals on fuel and liquor and the social security cess announced in the budget.
Police used water cannons to disperse the activists and took several of them into custody.
BJP’s youth wing Yuva Morcha has also announced that it will take out a march to the assembly today against the budget proposal to impose cess on fuel.
BJP state president K Surendran had said on Sunday that the party would launch an agitation from Monday against the anti-people budget and wrong policies of the government.
Earlier in the day, opposition Congress-led UDF legislators protested against the state budget on Thursday. The legislators formed a march against the state budget from the legislators’ hostel to the state assembly to attend the budget session at the Kerala Legislative Assembly in Thiruvananthapuram.
During the protest, the opposition leaders said that they will continue the protest until the government changes its decision. Opposition legislators walked into the assembly to mark the protest.
The youth wing of the Congress party also protested against the Kerala budget in Kochi today and clashed with police personnel who used water cannons to disperse the protesters.
Angry Congress workers also burnt tires in front of the barricades put up to stop the protesters.
The police lathi-charged and used water cannons against the protesters, which led to scuffles between the two groups.
Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan hit out at the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government for not rolling back the additional cess imposed on petrol and diesel prices in the worst-ever budget in the Assembly.
The Congress leader said, “For the last few days, we are agitating inside and outside the assembly. Not only the opposition, the general public also believes that the government will be forced to withdraw some taxes. Unfortunately, the government is not ready to reduce taxes.
He claimed that all these taxes were unscientific, and would further increase prices and derail Kerala’s economy.
“It is a recession-like situation. This time through the budget proposal, the government has to stimulate the economy but unfortunately it has paralyzed the economic activities in Kerala. This over-taxation will create chaos in the economy of Kerala,” He said, adding that it would affect the future of Kerala.
Satheesan further said, “We will continue the agitation. On the following 13 and 14 February, the Union Democratic Front (UDF) announced a state-wide day-night strike.
After presenting the budget for the financial year 2023-24 on Thursday, the Kerala government is facing massive backlash from the general public. The government has proposed to increase the prices of petrol and diesel in the state by Rs 2 per litre.
People say that due to increase in cess on petrol and diesel, there will be a huge increase in the prices. The prices of daily use items have more than doubled in Kerala.
Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal presented the budget for the 2022-23 financial year in the Assembly on 2 February. This is the third budget after Balagopal took over as the state’s finance minister.
To curb inflation, an allocation of Rs 2,000 crore has been made in the budget. Balagopal said that despite being a consumerist state, Kerala was able to control the price hike and the state witnessed the lowest price hike in the country.
The Finance Minister said that the prices of petrol and diesel will be increased by Rs 2 per liter in Kerala.
The minister said the Centre’s assistance to the state has been reduced and there is a possibility of a financial crisis this year.
He further said that though the state government is facing challenges due to the fiscal policies of the central government, Kerala is not in debt and the state has the financial position to take more loans. (ANI)
This report has been auto generated from ANI News Service. ThePrint is not responsible for its content.