The petrol price hike, coming as a rude shock to commuters, evoked anger that translated into public protests, with many organisations calling for a rollback in prices.
Bruhat Bangalore Petrol, Diesel, Cooking Gas Consumer's Forum condemned the hike and expressed concern at the possibility of a similar hike in diesel and cooking gas rates.
Similarly, local Bharatiya Janata Party units, the Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) held protests against the Union government and pressed for an immediate rollback.
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Calling the hike “anti-people”, the Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) (SUCI-C) held several protests across the State.
Centre targeted
The target of all the anger was the Union government. From “Revenge is to vote for a change during the 2014 elections” to cartoons equating a litre of petrol to expensive gifts, social media networks were aflutter with disapproving chatter about the price hike.
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‘Inefficiency'
Sajjan Raj Mehta, member of the State Taxes Committee, Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), blamed the steep hike squarely on the inefficient handling of inflation by the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre.