Oppn comes together in protest over fuel prices
Govt says difficulty ‘momentary’ as 21 parties seek excise cut
NEWDELHI: A nationwide strike to protest rising prices, especially of fuel, affected life in at least eight states across India, while causing barely a ripple in others on Monday, as Opposition leaders came together in the capital to target the Narendra Modi government.
Leaders of 16 Opposition parties gathered at a fuel pump near New Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan where Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the Prime Minister’s policies were dividing the country and asked why Modi was “silent on the issues of price rise, farmer suicides, atrocities against women and unemployment”.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attributed the rise in oil prices to global factors and accused the Opposition of resorting to “dance of violence and game of death” to enforce the shutdown.
The Congress said the shutdown had been successful.
Finance ministry officials, who asked not to be named, cited inflation data under the UPA-I and UPA-II (5.8% and 10.4%) and said inflation under the current government (2014 to date) is 4.7%. They added that the current inflation is well within the “statutory target of 4% plus or minus 2%”.
On Monday, the price of petrol rose by 23 paise to ₹80.73 a litre, and the price of diesel by 22 paise to ₹72.83 a litre in Delhi – both now at their costliest ever. In Andhra Pradesh, chief minister Chandrababu Naidu announced that his government has cut the statelevied Value Added Tax by ₹2 per litre on every litre of petrol and diesel sold. This follows a similar move in Rajasthan, which is set to hold elections later this year.
The value of rupee too hit unprecedented levels, falling to ₹72.67 per dollar before settling to close at ₹72.45.
Stock markets tanked more than 1% to close at three-week lows on Monday following a global slide in equities due to concerns worries a looming trade war
The worst of the strikes were felt in Bihar, Karnataka and Kerala. In Bihar, protesters blocked roads and trains as businesses and schools stayed shut. Some protesters also carried out vandalism and arson, and a two-yearold girl died after her ambulance did not purportedly reach a hospital due to the blocked roads. Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad alluded to the death to criticise the Opposition’s strike.
In Karnataka, offices were shut and bus services were stopped. Sporadic incidents of attacks on private and government vehicles and shops were reported from a few places in Kerala, where the shutdown was for a longer 12-hour period as compared to 9am-3pm elsewhere.
Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Telangana and Assam were other states where the shutdown had some effect.
The strike did not have much impact in the national capital or states such as Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal or Mizoram.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which had till Sunday refused to join the Congress-led agitation, shared the stage with Opposition parties. United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh were among those present at the New Delhi protest.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) organised their protests in Uttar Pradesh, while the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India held demonstrations at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.
On the eve of the strike, the Congress claimed the support of 21 parties in all. Gandhi, who returned from the Kailash-Mansarovar yatra on Sunday night, paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at the memorial at Rajghat before leading a 1.8-km protest march.