Jahangeer Ganaie
Jammu, Feb 17: The Jammu and Kashmir Congress and PDP Wednesday staged a protest in Jammu against the BJP-led Centre over the “incessant hike” in the prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas.
As per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), carrying placards denouncing the “unprecedented and unjustified” hike, the Congress leaders and workers chanted slogans against the BJP government and demanded immediate rollback of the prices.
They lashed out at the Centre over the rise in petrol and diesel prices and claimed that the excise duty on diesel has been hiked by 820 per cent and petrol by 258 per cent in the last six years.
The Congress leaders also targeted the government for steep hike in the prices of LPG cylinders and accused it of “looting” poor people by raising the fuel prices.
“The incessant hike in fuel prices is an additional burden on the common people who are at the limit of their woes owing to the Covid-19 induced lockdown for months,” they said.
He said the poor and the middle class have been severely hit by the recent hikes.
They said that BJP’s claim of providing ‘pro-people’ governance stands exposed as the Central government has allegedly failed miserably to address the issues affecting the general public.
They also raised slogans to immediately roll back property tax in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Jammu unit of PDP also took out a protest march in Kachi Chawni area of Jammu while raising slogans against BJP government for failing to check fuel prices.
Protesters led by district president Jammu Ranjeev Sharma demanded that government must check prices of the fuels which they have been hiking every day
He said that keeping in view the already high prices of other commodities, the government shouldn’t hike prices frequently.
“We demand an immediate rollback of the petrol prices. The hike is totally unjust and needs to be revoked,” he said.
Prices of petrol have gone over 100 and gas cylinders are at over one thousand and the government needs to check prices at an earliest, he said.
“We will struggle till property tax order will be revoked in J&K, he said, adding that we will come on roads and will press for our demands,” he said. “We have been living in houses of our father and their ancestors and there is no money with us to repair them, how can we pay property tax.”
The party blamed the BJP government for the unprecedented hike. “BJP government is entirely responsible for this hike, it is because of their wrong policies that people of this country are suffering,” he said.
He said that prices are being hiked and planes besides other things are being procured every day but no attention is being given towards growing unemployment. He said that around one lakh daily wagers are on roads since years but no attention is being given towards them—(KNO)
