The opposition BJP in Karnataka on Monday staged a statewide demonstration against the hike in petrol and diesel prices. The Karnataka government on Saturday hiked sales tax on fuel, which will make petrol and diesel costlier. Petrol prices have gone up by Rs 3 per litre and diesel by Rs 3.5 per litre. The agitation took place at all the district headquarters of the state. In Bengaluru, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra led the agitation. He said the protest has been organised against the anti-people stand of the Congress government in Karnataka. He charged that the hike in petrol and diesel prices will have a direct impact on all the sectors. Due to the five guarantees, the state government was in a big financial burden. As a result, lot of development work had come to a halt, he said. "The government realised that stopping the guarantees would result in public outrage. To continue these guarantees, the government did not have money, so it hiked the petrol and diesel prices,"