Bengaluru, June 19 (UNI) Karnataka Congress will stage demonstrations in all districts of the state on Tuesday to protest "discontinuance" of rice by the central government under the Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) policy, a top leader said on Monday.

"We will stage a demonstration across all the district headquarters in the state tomorrow (Tuesday) against the central government's deliberate denial of rice to the state under the OMSS policy," Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress president DK Shivakumar told reporters here.

The central government recently discontinued the sale of rice and wheat from the central pool under OMSS policy to state governments.

The move comes amid the slow progress of the monsoon and rising prices of rice and wheat. Rice prices have increased by up to 10 per cent in the last one year at the mandi level and by 8 per cent in the last one month, as per official data.

However, Shivakumar alleged that the central government is "denying" rice to the state so that it cannot implement the Anna Bhagya Yojane, a scheme to provide 10 kgs of rice free of cost to BPL and Antyodaya cardholders.

"The Centre has decided to trouble us so that we cannot give rice to the poor people. We are not asking them to give us rice free of cost. There has been a system from the beginning. If there was rice in the central warehouses, it was given to those demanding it," he said.

The BJP on Saturday, howeve exposed the lies of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over central government's alleged denial of providing rice to the state under the OMSS policy, affecting distribution of 10 kg free rice to people of the state under Anna Bhagya scheme.

Siddaramaiah earlier claimed that the Karnataka government had written to Deputy General Manager of Food Corporation of India (FCI) informing him that the state required 2.28 lakh MT rice on June 9, and FCI accepted state's request and agreed to provide rice vide letter dated June 12 at the rate of Rs 3,400 per quintal.

However, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya on Saturday accused the chief minister of misleading the people of Karnataka and claimed the change in OMSS policy was already suggested in the inter-ministerial committee meeting on June 8.

The meeting took this decision in view of the increase in price of wheat and rice across the country, he argued.

"It also very clearly shows that the process to reconsider this policy had started way back in early May by inter-ministerial committee, much before even the Karnataka elections were held," Surya said and claimed that the documents proved that Prime Minister Modi was not "anti-Karnataka".

The Congress and CM Siddaramaiah are blatantly lying to hide their own incompetence and desperately trying to blame the Narendra Modi government, he alleged.

If the Congress is serious about their commitment to provide 10 kg rice to people of Karnataka as per their poll promise, they must procure 10 kg rice from the open market, and distribute it in addition to the 5 kg rice given by the Modi government under the National Food Security Act. UNI BDN SSP