‘BJP Govt fleecing people by unjust taxes’
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 29: Congress leaders and activists today held strong protest demonstrations against price hike of petrol and diesel in Jammu and other district headquarters and alleged that Modi Govt earned Rs 18 lakh crores in last six years from Excise duty on these products.
As a part of nationwide Congress protests against unprecedented price hike of petrol diesel and other essential commodities, the JKPCC unit held main protest programme outside PCC office Shahidi Chowk, Jammu which was led by senior party leaders comprising Corporators, Ex-legislators, Block presidents and functionaries of frontal wings including vice president JKPCC Raman Bhalla, District president Jammu Urban Yogesh Sawhney, vice president Kanta Bhan, chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma, general secretaries Manmohan Singh, Shah Mohd Choudhary, S S Shingari, Faqir Nath, Gurdarshan Singh, KL Gupta, Rashid Choudhary, Congress Corporators and leaders of Mahila Congress, Youth Congress, NSUI, Seva Dal, INTUC etc. Click here to watch video
Riding on two horse carts, senior leaders accompanied by others held strong protest amidst raising slogans and carrying placards against price hike of petrol and diesel. They were expressing their anger against rising prices of fuel. They raised slogans against Modi Govt for heavily burdening the poor and common man when the prices of crude oil are at lowest sides.
Addressing the gathering Raman Bhalla said that Modi Govt is fleecing the people by imposing heavy taxes. When BJP assumed power in 2014 the excise duty was 9.20 per litre on petrol and Rs 3.46 per litre on diesel, whereas, in six years it has increased it to Rs 23.78 per litre on petrol and Rs 28.37 per litre on diesel. This shocking 820% hike on diesel and 258% on petrol has heavilyburdened the public, he added.
Later, the leaders submitted a memorandum to the President of India through the District Magistrate Jammu.
District Congress Committee (DCC) Jammu (Rural) held similar protest against fuel price hike, urging PM Modi-led Government to roll back the prices.
Led by DCC Rural president, Hari Singh Chib, the senior Congress leaders, Youth Congress and other party activists assembled near Office of the SDM North (Janipur), Jammu and raised slogans against the BJP Government over the rising fuel prices across the country.
Talking to reporters on the occasion former minister, Mula Ram lamented that petrol and diesel prices are being increased daily when the entire country is hit by Covid-19 pandemic, and people are in crisis due to the lockdown. He said that the Central Government is looting the people by hiking the excise duty on petrol and diesel.
Chib said that the anti-people policies of the BJP Govt are responsible for the high prices of petrol, diesel and LPG despite crude oil consistently remaining down to less than 50 per cent for the last six years. “International crude oil prices are the lowest in the last 15 years, yet petrol and diesel prices are skyrocketing, while the common people, the middle class, the farmers, the transporters and small and medium businesses are bearing the pain of high oil rates,” Chib rued.
Youth Congress activists led by J&K president, Uday Bhanu Chib, also joined the protest led by DCC Jammu Rural against the unregulated hike in the prices of petrol and diesel.
Senior leaders Ch Gharu Ram (Ex-minister), Shivdev Singh (Ex MLA), MK Bhardwaj, Pawan Raina, Shashi Sharma and Ajaz Choudhary also accompanied. Later, they submitted a memorandum through Pawan Kotwal, SDM North, addressed to the President of India.
Similar protests were held at Samba, Kathua, Udhampur, Reasi, Kishtwar, Rajouri and other district headquarters.
At Leh, DCC unit led by TCC president and former minister, Nawang Rigzin Jora held similar protest against Modi Govt for steep hike in the prices of diesel and petrol. They demanded that Modi Govt must announce roll back on the prices of fuel without any delay as it has hit every sector.
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