Bengaluru, Apr 17 (UNI) Hitting back at the Congress party in Karnataka for protesting against the Centre over rising fuel prices, Senior BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan on Thursday accused the state government of misleading the public, claiming that recent price hikes were a result of increased sales tax and not due to any action by the Union Government.

Speaking to reporters here, Dr Ashwath Narayan asserted that the Centre had, in fact, reduced fuel prices over the past year, including a Rs 300 cut in LPG cylinder prices, while the Karnataka government had gone in the opposite direction.

"The Government of India has not increased fuel prices. In fact, diesel and petrol prices were reduced last year. The recent price hike in Karnataka is due to the Congress government's decision to raise the sales tax – by Rs 5.50 on diesel and Rs 3 on petrol," he said.

The Senior BJP leader further pointed out that while the Centre had recently increased LPG prices by Rs 50, this was after having slashed them by Rs 300 earlier. "On the other hand, the Congress government here has been increasing prices across the board—by 20%, 30%, even up to 400% in some sectors. They have neither offered any relief nor subsidy," he alleged.

Dr Ashwath Narayan criticised the Congress for what he called a "token protest" intended merely for optics. "This protest is symbolic, just for namesake. They are fooling the people instead of offering real solutions," he said.

The Congress party held a protest earlier in the day, accusing Narendra Modi government of burdening the common man with rising fuel and LPG prices.

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