BJP Holds Protest Across Tamil Nadu Over Property Tax Hike

About 83 percent of the households in the urban areas will see a tax hike of 25- 50 percent.

The BJP held a protest across Tamil Nadu on Friday  against the property tax hike by the state government. Chief Minister M K Stalin has said his DMK government was constrained to revise the property tax to ensure funds flow to civic bodies so the newly elected representatives can facilitate developmental activities.

Speaking to NDTV, BJP MLA Vanathi Srinivasan said, "On the one hand they talk about a new model for India and on the other hand they accept their failure". When asked why the BJP is protesting when the union government has been raising fuel price on a daily basis, she said, "Fuel is imported and price is fixed according to international price. Let Tamil Nadu say yes to bring fuel under GST, the price will come down".

For 62-year-old Vasan, a resident of Mylapore, an area classified as core Chennai, the state government's decison has come as a "huge blow". His sons had lost jobs amid the pandemic.

"Our livelihood has been lost over the last two years. Raising property tax now is a huge blow," said Vasan, who now stares at 75% hike in takes for his 1050 sq feet property.