'Looting From Birth To Death': Karnataka BJP Releases ‘Charge Sheet’ Slamming State's Congress Government

Last Updated:April 02, 2025, 16:36 IST

The BJP pointed out the performance of eight departments of the Karnataka government. (PTI file)

Just like their ‘charge sheet campaign’ against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has launched an ‘eight-point charge sheet’ against the Congress in Karnataka, alleging it is committing “daylight robbery" by constantly hiking prices of essential commodities for common man.

The opposition BJP said while the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government had promised to make the poor financially strong with the guarantee schemes, they have increased the prices of 50 items in two years of their governance. “They are giving money with one hand and taking it back with interest with the other," the charge sheet alleged.

“The government that came to power and is struggling with its finances is bent on extorting people. The Congress government has raised prices from the time one is born until a person is dead. They have created a situation where Karnataka has become one of the most expensive places to live in the country," the BJP has alleged.

The BJP has targeted eight departments and ministries, including finance, health and family welfare, revenue, energy, agriculture, transport, animal husbandry, and excise.

Congress leader and Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge, in a post on X, said, “It’s a good development that the BJP has finally decided to talk about price hikes! What the BJP really needs to speak out about is the public outcry and protests against the central government…Inflation has risen significantly due to the poor economic policies of the central government, and our government has inevitably revised some prices to adjust for this. But the root cause is the central government. @BJP4Karnataka If leaders listen to the hearts of the people, that outrage will be heard."

WHAT THE BJP’S CHARGE SHEET CLAIMS

In the finance department, the BJP alleged that on June 24, the Congress increased the price of petrol by Rs 3 and diesel by Rs 3.50 per litre. “When governments like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Goa have reduced fuel prices, the price of fuel in Karnataka has skyrocketed," the charge sheet said.

Next, taking on the health and family welfare department, the BJP alleged that the government is so desperate to raise revenue that it has turned government hospitals – where poor patients seek treatment – into “extortion centres". “The OPD and IPD charges have increased by 10-30 percent in major government hospitals, and the health minister argues that the increase is not a burden on the poor," the document said.

In case of the revenue department, the BJP said the cost of obtaining a birth or death certificate has been increased by 100 percent. A cess of Rs 100 is also being levied on garbage collection, which they claim is a desperate attempt by the government to raise revenue from any possible source.

“It is unfortunate that the farming community is being used as a shield to justify their price hike," said the BJP on the issue of the increase in milk prices. The Congress government claimed they had hiked it at the request of farmers and that the increased amount would be directly transferred to milk farmers. “They are misleading people. The Congress, when they hiked milk prices earlier, claimed that the money would be given to farmers. That money has not reached them till now," alleged the BJP.

Increasing the price of stamp duty four times in one go has forced people to pay double the amount to get a land deed, the party said. “The guidance value of land has also increased by 50 percent, while that of plots has risen by 30 per cent and for apartments by 5-20 per cent," which, the BJP claimed during their protest, is daylight looting of people to fill the government’s coffers.

The energy department, under the Gruha Jyothi scheme, has been providing free power up to 200 units for every household in Karnataka. However, the BJP highlighted that while this benefit exists, electricity rates for small and medium industries have been hiked, and the energy department has no money to even pay for the pensions of its employees. “The government, which is bankrupt and has no money to pay pensions to electricity department employees, has decided to extort people by increasing the energy fee by 0.35 paise per unit from consumers," the charge sheet said, referring to the hikes in the agriculture department.

The BJP also alleged that farmers are at the receiving end of the Congress’ “looting spree", with the price of sowing seeds increasing by 50-100 per cent. The cost of installing transformers on farmland for irrigation and other farming activities has risen from Rs 25,000 to between Rs 2,50,000 and Rs 3 lakh. “This places farmers under an unbearable financial burden," they alleged.

One of the first schemes launched by the Congress was the Shakti scheme for free travel for women. The BJP attacked the transport department as well, saying that bus fares have been hiked by 15-20 percent and that the department’s financial resources have been drained to such an extent that they are struggling to pay employee salaries. “They have created history by increasing metro train ticket prices by 100 percent," said the charge sheet. For a state that is known as a centre for innovation and sustainability, the Congress, instead of encouraging car purchases, has increased the lifetime tax by 10 percent. “A cess of Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 has been levied on the purchase of every vehicle," said the BJP.

Taking on the department of animal husbandry, the Opposition BJP said that the government has increased milk prices three times in the past two years by a total of Rs 9. “This is anti-poor and will break the back of the middle class," the BJP said.

While a large chunk of state revenue comes from excise, the BJP alleged that this department too has seen an increase in excise duty by 10 percent, twice over the past two years.

As part of their statewide protests, where they released this charge sheet, the Opposition has demanded an immediate rollback of the hikes mentioned and announced that they will pull an all-nighter on the streets of the state in their fight for justice for the poor and middle class in Karnataka.

News politics 'Looting From Birth To Death': Karnataka BJP Releases ‘Charge Sheet’ Slamming State's Congress Government