Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam   

Fuel issue: Left to agitate till rollback

Staff Reporter

Activists squat on rail track; protest part of a nationwide campaign

ON WARPATH: Activists of CPI and CPI(M) stage `rail roko' in protest against hike in petrol and diesel prices in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday — Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam.

VISAKHAPATNAM: The Opposition parties on Tuesday organised protests demanding rollback of the petrol and diesel price hike. The CPI(M) and CPI activists who came to the railway station around 12 noon stopped the Howrah-Yeshwantpur Express for about half an hour. Shouting slogans against the UPA Government's action, they squatted on the track.

The CPI(M) activists were the first to arrive and were soon joined by the CPI workers. The Left parties' leaders vowed to continue their struggle till a rollback was effected.

The protest was part of the nationwide campaign against the hike called by the Left parties. Addressing the protestors, CPI(M) leader Ajay Sarma said that despite the hike in oil price in the international market, petrol could be sold at Rs.28 a litre but the Government was charging about Rs.25 more.

Another leader Swaroopa Rani said that the price hike would have a cascading effect and push up the prices of essential commodities.

CPI State secretariat member Lakshminarayana said that the hike could be brought down by reducing excise and customs duties and sales tax.

He The State Government's move to reduce the price marginally would not do and the agitation would continue till a rollback was announced, he said.

The Left parties were extending support to the UPA Government, in spite of its decisions, to keep the "communal" BJP at bay, he said answering questions on why they were not withdrawing support. CPI city secretary Ch. Raghavendra Rao participated.

TDP rasta roko

The TDP men, led by former MLA S.A. Rehman and its city president C.M.A. Zaheer Ahmed, staged a rasta roko at Jagadamba Junction.

At Asilmetta, Dr. Ahmed and former MLA Palla Simhachalam organised a rasta roko. Speaking at Asilmetta, Dr. Ahmed said that the UPA Government had imposed a sixth hike during the past two years. Party leaders N. Bhaskara Rao, Malla Appala Naidu and E. Mariadas also participated.

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