Karnataka Petrol Price Today: Hardeep Singh Puri Slams Siddaramaiah Govt For Hiking Fuel Rates

Meanwhile, Hardeep Puri Singh has spoken exclusively to CNN News 18 on the recent price hike of fuel in the state of Karnataka. Let's listen in. So first of all, there is a defense which is coming in from the Karnataka government saying 1. Tax devolution. Second, they need this money because you are starved of funds to fulfill the poll promises they made. Do you agree? And by this Madam, may I respect fully state that its not a defense which is coming in. Its not a defense. It is an attempt at a defense which is coming in. So when you try and make an allegation, its an allegation till it is established, its veracity is established. Here there is no defense. The second part we need the money. Of course you need the money if you go around making tall claims. Khata khat Fatah fat how ayang a here with I got by. If I take an initiative to say I will do something, I must weigh the consequences of what I am saying. If there are 32,00,000 parivars of families and you give ₹1,00,000 a month salana and that's what these women did. They arrived at the scene so giving and they have some certificate looking thing and said yeah, apne hame diya kaagas hamara job Ek lakh rupee salka Pella installment duska sadeya hazara PE hame DJ. That is why they've got into trouble. So your second attempt at a defense is correct. They made promises. They had to get out of the promise and therefore said they thought a ₹3 hike would go unnoticed. We go straight across now to Pallavi. Pallavi, I couldn't help but miss that jibe that he made at the Congress party, the Khattakhat jibe. But you know, this is a very important matter. He said. That this is an attempt at a defense, that this is their attempt to defend themselves for all those ambitious promises that they had made to the people of the state of Karnataka. And that's why they're raising the prices of fuel. So 2 defense is being given by the Karnataka government. One of course is a tax devolution which they say which may have been given out by the finance ministry, but that's not enough. Its one of the lowest in times. And Mr. Puri in fact, when he spoke to be said and in comparison to the UPA times, what we've given out as tax devolution is much higher. So this argument doesn't cut much eyes. And the 2nd Karnataka government MP Pat Patil Patil, the minister has also gone on to say that we had made promises, we have to raise money and this is the way we raise money. Again that has been outright rejected by the petroleum ministry on the grounds that if you look at comparison with other states, if you do it with Gandhi Nagar, Itanagar, Bengal also the rise is much much lower. So therefore for them to say so, its completely incorrect and now the pressure will mount because he also said that it should actually be brought at the GST. There has been a resistance to bringing fuel under GST for many of the opposition rules states. I want to take up barely on the grounds because they see that when it is in their control to fix prices in terms of excise and sales tax is the state government which gets the lions share. A GST would mean a uniform tax regime which doesn't suit their purpose. But a finance ministry has been pushing for a GST and then he says that to me, what they say out different from what they say inside.