Bengaluru, Nov 20 (DHNS): Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said the Congress deserved credit for the reduction in GST rates, saying it was done after the party staged nationwide protests against the high rates.

Speaking at the birth centenary of former prime minister Indira Gandhi at the KPCC office, Siddaramaiah took on the opposition BJP for mocking the state government's mid-year review of the state's finances that had allayed fears of an economic slowdown due to GST.

BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa had pointed out that the government strayed from the Congress stand on GST that it was Gabbar Singh Tax. "The GST was a UPA reform and we played a role in the reduction of tax rates," Siddaramaiah said.

"The BJP is concentrating on making Karnataka Congress-free, but we are focusing on making the state hunger-free," Siddaramaiah said, referring to the Indira Canteens. He also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Indira Gandhi opened the doors of the banks for the poor by nationalising them. Modi closed the doors of banks for the poor through demonetisation."

KPCC president G Parameshwara said BJP leaders Ananthkumar Hegde (Union minister), K S Eshwarappa, Yeddyurappa and Shobha Karandlaje were "unfit" to be politicians. "The BJP is desperate. That's why even a Union minister is indulging in loose talk," he said. He was referring to Hegde's comment that the ruling Congress, which recently celebrated the birth anniversary of Tipu Sultan, would go to the extent of celebrating the Jayanti of Mumbai terror attack convict Ajmal Kasab.

Parameshwara said the party celebrated Indira Gandhi's birth centenary by lighting 100 candles in every district.