Gadag, April 22 (IANS) Karnataka BJP on Tuesday slammed the Congress government in the state over the price hike of essential commodities on Tuesday, saying that the government is an ‘advertisement-driven government’.

“This is not a people’s government. It is an advertisement-driven government. They are using newspapers and TV channels to deceive people through advertisements. Even after hiking fuel prices, Karnataka is not receiving any real benefits or seeing development,” said Karnataka BJP state chief and MLA B.Y. Vijayendra, while addressing a public rally as part of the 'Janakrosh Yatra' in Gadag.

He pointed out that the state has increased petrol prices by Rs 3.50 and diesel by Rs 5.50 per litre, while simultaneously spending heavily on advertisements about guarantee schemes.

He said the Congress government’s continuous price hikes are a major concern.

Vijayendra claimed that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, in an attempt to “appease” the minority community, is being unjust to the Hindu community through the state budget, and that the BJP is raising public awareness about this.

Vijayendra accused the state government of “misappropriating” Rs 38,500 crore earmarked for the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Tribes by diverting it for other purposes.

“We are undertaking the Janakrosh Yatra to protest against this corrupt Congress regime,” he said.

Vijayendra challenged the Congress government to reveal how much funding it has allocated for the Gadag district.

“In the last 20 months of the Siddaramaiah-led government, not a single new project has been initiated in Gadag or other districts. During the tenure of former BJP Chief Ministers B.S. Yediyurappa and Basavaraj Bommai, Gadag received allocations of Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 crore. How much has Siddaramaiah given for the development of Gadag?” he questioned.

He criticised the government’s inaction in addressing the severe drinking water crisis, saying: “If they can’t fix the drinking water issue, how can we expect them to fund development? We don’t have any personal hatred towards Siddaramaiah, but there is a lot of debate around these so-called guarantees. When Yediyurappa was the Chief Minister, farmers had to pay just Rs 25,000 for electric connections to their fields. Now, under Siddaramaiah’s rule, it costs Rs 2.5 to Rs 3 lakh.”

He further said that milk prices have been hiked by Rs 9 in the last 20 months, questioning how the poor are expected to manage in such conditions.

Former minister and MLA G. Janardhan Reddy has accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of creating division among communities through the caste census and turning the state into a “demonic state.”

Reddy alleged that the Chief Minister himself is displaying a tendency to break the unity among people and sow discord between different castes.

He further stated that the state government is delivering poor governance through price hikes and the caste census. He claimed that people across all districts of Karnataka are warmly welcoming the Janakrosh Yatra being led by BJP State President B.Y. Vijayendra.

Reddy condemned what he described as attacks on Hindu culture. Referring to a recent incident, he said, “It is condemnable that a student was made to remove their ‘Janivara’ (sacred thread) while going to write an exam.”

The event saw the participation of several BJP leaders including former Deputy CM and MP Govind Karjol, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, former minister B. Sriramulu, Chief Whip of the opposition in the Council N. Ravikumar, MLAs and former ministers C.C. Patil and G. Janardhana Reddy, MLA Chandru Lamani, MLC S.V. Sankanur, former MLA Kalakappa Bandi, district BJP president Thotappa (Raju) Kuradagi, and other state and district office bearers, mandal presidents, and party leaders.