SONIA, RAHUL HIT OUT AT GOVT OVER FUEL PRICE HIKE, FARM LAWS
NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday attacked the Modi government over the ongoing farmer agitation and the hike in fuel prices, and said the country is standing at the crossroads for the first time since Independence.
On the hike in fuel prices, she accused the government of profiteering and said it is turning a disaster into an opportunity to fill its coffers.
“I demand from the government that the rates of excise duty on petrol and diesel be made similar to that during the UPA regime and provide immediate relief to the affected people. I once again appeal to the government to repeal the three farm laws immediately and fulfil all the demands of farmers,” she said in a statement.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also accused the government of “looting” the people by imposing heavy taxes on fuel and alleged that this is the reason it is not bringing them under the purview of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
“There has been unprecedented ‘development’ in prices of petrol and diesel. The Modi government is looting the public by charging heavy taxes on fuel. This is the reason why the government is not willing to bring petrol-diesel under GST,” he said in a tweet in Hindi. farmer groups stuck to their demand for the repeal of the three laws, while the government listed out various benefits of the new acts for the growth of the country’s agriculture sector.
On Thursday, farmers started the tractor march around 11 am and moved towards Kundlimanesar-palwal Expressway amid heavy deployment of Delhi Police personnel and their counterparts from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Perched on their tractors, protesting farmers moved slowly through the protest sites, with speakers on their vehicles belting out music keeping their spirits high. Other protestors lined the path providing fellow farmers with all kinds of supplies, including peanuts, fritters, tea, and newspapers.
At Ghazipur protest, the trac