Mangalore: Bharat Bandh on May 31 'Unlawful' - Janardhan Poojary
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (PS)
Mangalore, May 29: Former union minister B Janardhan Poojary has termed the nationwide bandh called by BJP, NDA and left parties against the steep hike in petrol prices as ‘unlawful’.
Addressing reporters here on Tuesday May 29, he said that there was a strict order by the Supreme Court that there should not be any bandh and in case any organization calls for it, the loss thereby incurred would have to be borne by the same party.
The bandh call on May 31 by the NDA and left parties across the nation was severely condemned by the former minister.
"In the event of the devaluation of rupee against dollar in the international market, the hike was inevitable. The step was taken by the central government keeping in view the better management of the economy, even as economy of other nations shivered. The government is already giving Rs 1,94,000 crore as subsidy on petroleum products," he said.
Coming down heavily on the inaction of the state government in not eliminating the cess on petrol, Poojary said that in the neighboring state of Goa, petrol price stood at Rs 62 which clearly shows that the tax imposed by the government of Karnataka was too high.
He demanded an immediate decrease in the state tax to match the price prevailing in other states.
He also assured that the central government is taking every possible step to help the states, with 28 percent of the total Rs 15,00,000 crore budget being utilized for states.
Asked about UPA’s own allies being against the price hike, he termed it a ‘tragedy’. "That is why people should elect a government with majority, as coalition is always full of problems," he added.