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Widespread protests against fuel price hike

CHANDIGARH: Reacting against the latest hike in diesel, LPG and kerosene prices, the CPI (M) organised protest rallies at several places including Rohtak in Haryana on Saturday.

In Rohtak, the CPI (M) activists carrying placards and empty gas cylinders marched through the main market raising slogans decrying the Manmohan Singh government for increasing the prices of petroleum products ten times during the past ten months.

CPI (M) State secretary Inderjit Singh asserted that the Central Government had “crossed all limits of cruelty to ordinary people by yet again ensuring super profits for the oil companies at their cost”.

He reiterated the party's alternative stance favouring restructuring of the price fixation mechanism by changing the irrational ad valorem tax regime.

An effigy of the UPA Government was later burnt at Chhotu Ram Chowk.

Rollback demanded

Haryana BJP chief Krishan Pal Gujjar also flayed the UPA regime for the steep hike in the prices of diesel, LPG and kerosene and said it was “unwarranted and anti-people”.

While demanding a rollback of the hike, he claimed that the erstwhile National Democratic Alliance government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee had kept inflation under control during its tenure by taking people-friendly decisions.

Former Ambala MP and senior BJP leader Rattan Lal Kataria in a statement described the hike as “an example of the Government's criminal apathy to the hardships people are facing in their daily life”.

He further alleged that Union Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy was misleading the country by describing the increase as “very modest and minimal”.

Indian National Lok Dal secretary-general Ajay Singh Chautala and INLD State chief Ashok Arora also flayed the hike and demanded a rollback of the recent petrol price hike as well.

Haryana Janhit Congress chief and MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi lambasted the UPA regime for its “anti-people and anti-poor policies”.

Unrealistic, says Badal

Chandigarh: Criticising the Centre for “the unwarranted and steep” hike in fuel prices, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Saturday demanded an immediate rollback of the increase.

“The recent hike of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas prices is absolutely unrealistic and arbitrary,” Mr. Badal said.

He said it was “unforgivable” that on the one hand the Centre boasted of a high growth rate in the economy while on the other it was burdening the common man with such an “undesirable and unbearable” price rise.

Mr. Badal said the Centre had been “arbitrarily” increasing the prices of diesel time and again and a similar increase of Rs.3 per litre was imposed just four months back, putting an additional burden of Rs.300 crore on the farmers in Punjab.

The Chief Minister said that in order to insulate small and marginal farmers from such “frequent shocks” a mechanism of differential pricing of agricultural sector should be introduced.

In a steep hike, the Central government had on Friday increased the diesel price by Rs.3 per litre, domestic LPG by Rs.50 per cylinder and kerosene by Rs.2 per litre.

Sonia's effigy burnt

Allahabad: The Samajwadi Party on Saturday held protest demonstrations in various parts of the city against the hike in the prices of diesel, LPG and kerosene by the Congress-led Central Government.

A group of party supporters entered the premises of Anand Bhavan, the ancestral house of the Nehrus, where they raised slogans against the UPA government and set afire an effigy of the ruling coalition's chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

The officials of Anand Bhavan, which houses a museum and the Jawahar Planetarium, said they would not report the matter to police as the SP supporters did not vandalise the premises or venture towards those parts where entry is prohibited.

Their protest was restricted to the lawns in front of the building, the officials added.

However, Chandradhar Gaur, in charge of Kernalganj police station in whose jurisdiction Anand Bhavan falls, said, “We are taking a very serious note of the unauthorised entry into the high-security premises and stern action will be taken once those involved in the act are identified.”

Meanwhile, protests were organised at various other places across the city by Samajwadi Party and the BJP against the latest price rise announced by the Central Government on Friday night. - PTI

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