Karnataka: Siddaramaiah, the Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, and State Congress President DK Shivakumar, among other party MLAs, arrived at the Legislative Assembly on a bullock cart to participate in the state legislature’s Monsoon session. This move by the opposition came amid ongoing protests in the state over a hike in petrol, LPG, and other essential items. The first week of the legislative session was dominated by a lengthy debate about the price increase.
Later today, KarnatakaAssembly LoP announced that Congress had decided to boycott the joint session which will be addressed by Lok Sabha Speaker today. BJP is trying to create a new precedent in Karnataka Legislative Assembly. It has never happened before, said Siddaramaiah.
Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai is yet to respond to the debate in the legislature this week. The petrol price in Karnataka is Rs. 104.24 per litre. On September 18th and 19th, the situation was the same. Previously, on September 17th, the price of petrol was Rs. 104.44 per litre.
Earlier this month, Siddaramaiah was blaming Congress for the increase in petrol prices. While addressing the media, Siddaramaiah accused the Central government of corruption saying, “There was a loan of Rs. 1, 30,000 and today Centre has collected Rs 24 lakh crores via excise duty”. “Where is Rs 1, 30,000 and where is Rs 24 lakh crores?”