The leftist often resorts to the trope, “Elect a clown, and you will only get to see a circus”. Well, we would like to rephrase it as “Elect Congress, and you will be surprised with new taxes, bizarre governance model, and frequent U-turns”. After assuming power, Congress-ruled states have gifted their voters – Toilet Tax, water cess, power cuts, corruption, misgovernance, Tipu Jayanti, cracker ban, and whatnot.
The Congress government in Karnataka has yet again found itself in hot waters, this time over a reported proposal to introduce a “green cess”. As per reports, the proposal aims to levy Rs 2 to Rs 3 on monthly water bills for municipalities and corporations that draw water from rivers in the Western Ghats.
Following a massive backlash, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar dismissed the proposal calling it “bogus”. He even went further to the extent of accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of “spreading misinformation”.
Interestingly, while DK Shivakumar claimed that there is no such proposal, his cabinet colleague – Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre contradicted his stance. Evidently, he was the one who came up with the proposal to introduce the contentious Green Cess.
In the recent past, Congress’ special affinity to impose unheard-of burdens on voters, especially the middle-class voters who fall prey to its freebie politics, has taken a new flight.
In September this year, the Congress Government in Himachal Pradesh tied itself in knots over the reported introduction of a “Toilet Tax”.
So what was this Toilet Tax all about?
On September 21, the Himachal Pradesh government issued a notification proposing a “toilet tax” in urban areas. The notification came from the office of the Additional Chief Secretary (Jal Shakti) who suggested a sewage charge of ₹25 per seat per month for establishments using their own water sources and the department’s sewerage system. This unheard-of tax unsurprisingly sparked massive outrage among the public.
With its back to the wall, Congress took a sharp U-turn by the evening and a revised order to partially revoke the contentious clause, stating it was “deleted with immediate effect.”
Honestly, these reversals are hardly surprising to be coming from the Congress Government, given the numerous U-turns it has made in recent days to dodge scrutiny from law enforcement agencies and public backlash.
Congress government in Karnataka: A U-turn Sarkara
Recently, the Karnataka Congress admitted its “mistake” saying that it mistakenly put 1,200 acres of farmers’ land in Vijayapura district as WAQF board assets. Acting in damage control mode, it assured that it would withdraw acquisition notices.
Similarly, the Siddaramaiah government backtracked on its “100% quota” policy for Kannadigas in the private sector.
A few embarrassing “U-turns” came in the backdrop of Land scam allegations in which the high-profile accused includes several Congress Ministers including CM Siddaramaiah, and their relatives.
Under legal scrutiny for these scam-tainted lands, the Congress leaders or their relatives claimed innocence stating that they were “voluntarily” surrendering these contentious plots. However, the so-called surrender only went on to intensify the opposition’s attack with BJP saying that the development was an implicit “admission of guilt”. And it highlighted the corruption and lack of decision-making ability of the Congress Government.
Additionally, in many states, the Congress government after winning elections on the promise of giving cheaper electricity, LPG cylinders, and free cash, they have thanked their voters by giving them price hikes, and increasing prices of milk, petrol, diesel, bus tickets or power cuts.
The Congress government in Karnataka has also raised milk prices twice since coming to power. In July 2023, the price of milk increased by ₹3 per litre, followed by another hike of ₹2 per litre in June 2024, implemented by the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF). Additionally, the government increased fuel prices by ₹3 through a revision in the state sales tax. The tax on petrol was raised from 25.92% to 29.84%, while diesel tax went up from 14.34% to 18.44%. As a result, the price of petrol in Karnataka now stands at ₹102.86 per litre, and diesel costs ₹88.94 per litre after the hike.
In a nutshell, the Congress government’s model of governance has been centered around promising freebies before elections, only to impose taxes and raise prices on essential commodities after forming the government.
The governance in the Congress-ruled states has been so below par that even the Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge was unhappy with their party leaders. Quite recently, he schooled party leaders not to make tall election promises that they can’t live up to, and in a way, admitting that the Congress party had been duping voters with its shallow freebie politics.
The cherry on top has been Congress’ bizarre governance model where Saffron flag and Hindu festivities are bad but Tipu Jayanti gets full backing from the ruling party. But as a Samosa lover, my personal favourite is the Congress government calling for a probe into the Samosa heist.
