Bharatiya Janata Party workers on Saturday held a demonstration at Jantar Mantar here and later courted arrest, protesting against the increase in the prices of cooking gas, diesel and kerosene.
The Delhi Police used water canon to stop the protesters when they tried to break through barricades put up outside the Parliament Street police station and proceed to the Prime Minister's residence to submit a memorandum.
Addressing the protesters, who carried banners and raised slogans against the Centre, Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijay Kumar Malhotra said the UPA government “has become so corrupt, despotic and anti-people that it has heavily increased the prices of liquid petroleum gas, diesel and kerosene without any justification and this will only lead to higher inflation.”
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The BJP leader said farmers and truck operators would be the worst affected by the hike in diesel prices. The cost of farming would increase by 20 per cent and farmers, who were not getting a remunerative support price for their produce, would be forced to take more loans to survive. Many of them committed suicides in the past.
Similarly, the increase in the price of cooking gas would affect household budgets. The price of milk had already shot up, and almost all other food items also showed a sharp increase in rates over the past few years.
Though the people were facing such hardship, the Congress-led Manmohan Singh government “is interested in neither curbing price rise nor getting back black money [stashed away abroad]. The government has put the future of crores of people in the dark by increasing the prices of all essential commodities,” Mr. Malhotra said.
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After addressing the workers, BJP leaders moved towards the barricades put up outside the Parliament Street police station. As they broke a couple of the barricades and began moving ahead, the police used water canon. Thereafter, the leaders submitted an open memorandum to the Prime Minister, demanding a rollback of the increase in the fuel prices.
Mumbai Staff Reporter writes:
‘Rubbing salt into the wound’
In Mumbai, the BJP took out a rally from the party office to the Petroleum Bhavan, where 100 workers were detained in preventive action.
“This price hike is like rubbing salt into the wound of the common man. Never till now have the rates been increased so much at one go,” said senior leader and former Union Petroleum Minister Ram Naik.
“Half-truth”
He said Petroleum Minister S. Jaipal Reddy's statement that the hike was the least minimum reflected the insensitivity of the Congress to the poor and the middle class.
“When Mr. Reddy quoted the prices of kerosene in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, he was only speaking half-truth. He should also have said petrol prices, which are Rs. 68.33 here, are Rs. 46.28 in Sri Lanka, Rs. 45.16 in Bangladesh and Rs. 42.23 in Pakistan. Even diesel prices, which are Rs. 47.25 in India, are Rs. 31.55 in Sri Lanka and Rs. 26.66 in Bangladesh.”