Congress protests hike in fuel prices
DEHRADUN: The Congress state unit on Sunday held a statewide protest against the BJP-led state government over “increased fuel prices” at fuel stations in the state’s 13 districts.
In Dehradun, the protest was led by Congress national general secretary and former CM Harish Rawat and state unit president Ganesh Godiyal at a fuel station on Rajpur road area near the party state headquarters.
During the protests, Congress members raised slogans against the BJP government and accused it of “looting the common man.”
The protest comes after the Centre on November 4 slashed excise duty on petrol and diesel by ₹5 and ₹10, respectively.
Rawat, who is the chief of Congress election campaign committee for the 2022 election in the state, said: “The BJP, while sitting at both Centre and state, has been making the public suffer by every possible way it can since it came to power.”
“The unimaginable rise in prices of petrol and diesel has put a hole in the pockets of people especially the poor who are now struggling for even two time meal. One could have never imagined that the prices of petrol and diesel will cross ₹100 in the country but this government made it happen,” said Rawat.
He further accused the BJP of “making money from the sufferings of poor.”
“The government increased the fuel prices exponentially when the crude price in international market has dipped. Instead of providing relief to the public by cutting down the prices in the proportion of crude prices, it decided to increase more, only to fill its coffers,” said Rawat.
Congress state president Godiyal too attacked the state government while citing fuel prices in the neighbouring countries.
“It is just ridiculous that India supplies fuel to the neighbouring countries at a rate of about ₹55-60/ltr but is charging ₹100/ ltr from its own citizens. This is just unjustifiable. Not only this, the government has also hiked the prices of LPG cylinder which has totally disturbed the budget of middle class which was once prospering during the UPA rule. But now, they are not made to suffer with no relief in sight,” said Godiyal.
“The Congress demand the government to cut down the prices to the old one from where it was increased by about ₹30-40.”
The BJP, meanwhile, countered the Congress by questioning the intent of its government in various states.
“The Centre as well as the Uttarakhand government has slashed the excise duty on the prices of petrol and diesel to give relief to people.
“But none of the Congressruled states did the same which just hollows the protest by them in the state,” said Manveer Singh Chauhan, BJP state unit media in charge.