Congress stages protest against hike in fuel, LPG prices

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Congress workers blocking traffic at Annapurna Cross during a protest in Kalaburagi on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: ARUN KULKARNI

Condemning the hike in petrol, diesel and LPG prices, district Congress workers on Tuesday took out a protest march through the city, blocked traffic at Annapurna Cross and raised slogans against the BJP-led Central government.

The protest march began at the District Congress Bhavan on Sedam Road and wound its way to Annapurna Cross, where demonstrators blocked vehicular movement and raised slogans.

GESCOM Chairman Praveen Patil Haravaala, who addressed the protesters, verbally attacked the Union government by terming it anti-people and anti-women.

“The Modi government keeps talking about making the country smoke-free, but is pushing women back to cooking on firewood by making LPG unaffordable. It promised two crore jobs every year, yet existing jobs are being snatched away. This government is not being run from Delhi, it is being run from the White House in America,” he claimed.

Congress leader Kiran Deshmukh questioned the government’s justification for the price hike.

“When the Narendra Modi-led government came to power in 2014, crude oil prices were at the same level as they are now. Petrol was ₹71 per litre then. Today, it has crossed ₹100. Over the last 12 years, oil companies in this country have raked in profits worth ₹43 lakh crore. Where has all the tax collected, nearly ₹1,000 crore every single day, gone?” he asked.

Another Congress leader Subhash Rathod said that the rise in fuel prices has made daily life a struggle for ordinary citizens. “People are living in fear, wondering whether prices will go up in the morning or at night. The rise in cooking oil and petroleum product prices has left the common man completely exhausted. The Congress is raising its voice across the country on behalf of these people. The Modi-Amit Shah brand of vendetta politics will never be accepted by this nation and the Congress will fight it tooth and nail,” h