On Friday, the Congress will stage symbolic protests in front of gas stations across the country, calling for an end to rising fuel and cooking gas prices. The protests will be organised by the party’s local units, according to General Secretary KC Venugopal, who also stated that no public meetings will be held and that Covid-19 protocols prescribed by the local, district, and state administrations will be followed.
Congress leader KC Venugopal said in a statement on Wednesday that issues of public interest such as the problems being faced by people amid the spiralling fuel and cooking gas prices, the unprecedented economic slowdown, the rising unemployment and skyrocketing prices of all essential commodities will be highlighted. “On one hand they could not get medicines and health facilities at the right time, on the other, they have been suffering because of the failing economy and widespread unemployment,” Venugopal said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP government has increased excise duty by ₹23.87 per litre on petrol and ₹28.37 on diesel in comparison to the previous UPA regime, Venugopal said. “The wrong priorities and anti-people policies of the BJP government can also be gauged from the fact that in the last 13 months of the corona epidemic, the prices of petrol and diesel have been increased by an unprecedented ₹25.97 and ₹24.18 respectively,” he alleged.
The senior Congress leader said that the prices of petrol and diesel have been increased 44 times in the last five months alone, “which is a living example of loot from the public by the BJP government at the Centre.” “Instead of sympathising with the problems of the commoners, the BJP government has decided to disregard the sufferings of the people and continue to inflict pain by raising the prices of petrol and diesel every other day,” he said.
In Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Ladakh, the price of petrol has surpassed $100 per litre.
