Hike in oil prices pushing up prices of all essential items steeply: Bhalla/Sawhney
Jammu: Jammu: The Congress Party staged a protest against a surge in diesel and petrol prices in Jammu on Wednesday, under the leadership of Former Minister J&K Raman Bhalla (Vice President JKPCC) and Former Minister J&K Yogesh Sawhney, Vice president JKPCC Kanta Baan, Spokesman Ravinder Sharma, General Secretary JKPCC Manmohan Singh Pinka, The demonstration was organised by Manmohan Sharma, Pawan Sharma and Block Presidents of Block 2 and Block 3, Mahesh Pura Bakshi Nagar Opposite GMC Hospital. The Congress leaders maintained social distancing and also adhered to other health norms while holding the protest. Senior Congress leaders, Block President, Ward President and contested candidates participated in demonstrations, including Rajneesh Sharma, SS Shingari, Sanjiv Sharma, Neeraj Gupta, Rajiv Saraf, Ramakant Khajuria, Madan Malagar, Gaurav Chopra, Sharma Parshotam, Varun Magotra, Manu Jamwal, Mehra, Cameres David, Naveen Bali, Yash Sarangal, Raj Kumar, Meenia , Ajay Kai, Kartar Singh, Vaishno Dutt, Raj Kamal, Janak Raj, Gulshan, Akshay, Santosh Bhagat, Guchi Lochan, Jatinder Singh, Sikander Khan, Pardeep Bhagat, Rajveer Singh, Sushant Gupta, Rajesh Sharma, Virendar Partap Singh, Divyansh Jamwal, Rahul Tandon, Chander Shekhar, Atul Sharma, Dr Divyansh Bhardwaj, Gurmeet Singh and others. Carrying placards raised slogans against BJP Govt but was stopped by heavy deployment of police. However, they submitted a memorandum to Additional Development Commissioner demanding rollback of hiked prices of fuels.
Speaking on the occasion, Bhalla said that hike in the prices of petrol and diesel for 22 days on a trot resulted in diesel becoming costlier than petrol for the first time ever, and demanded roll back in excise duty by the Central Government and VAT by J&K government,” he said. Terming the Modi Government “insensitive” towards the plight of the people as the hike in the oil prices were pushing up the prices of all essential items steeply, including fruits and vegetables, he said that people should be given the benefit of cheap crude oil price in the international market by lowering the prices in the domestic market as well.“Both the Modi and J&K Governments were coming under the pressure from the oil companies in hiking the prices of petroleum products to help them reap huge profits while the people of J&K were reeling under tremendous stress and strain on account of the fast spread of the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said. He said that the people of J&K facing a lot of hardships to come out of lockdown mode and many people have lost their jobs with no other source of livelihood. “Under such a situation, instead of giving relief to the people, BJP govt making the lives of the people harder,” he said. In the last three months, the Modi government has raised the prices of petrol and diesel by 22 times. The price of diesel has gone up by Rs 11 a litre and that of petrol by Rs 9.12 a litre.
Every section of society has been hit hard by the COVID pandemic, while the Centre is raising the prices of essential commodities instead of providing them with relief. The prices of oil in the international market have dropped drastically, but the Modi government and oil companies are profiteering. The poor, workers, shopkeepers, middle-class families, farmers, small and medium businessmen and a large number of unemployed people are struggling for their livelihood in times of economic recession, but the government is simply not bothered,” Bhalla said. Former Minister said when the BJP came to power in May 2014, excise duty on petrol was only Rs 9.20 per litre and on diesel Rs 3.46 per litre. In the course of six years, the BJP increased excise duty to Rs 23.78 per litre on petrol and Rs 28.37 per litre on diesel. He said the increase in oil prices was against the interests of the common man in general and farmers in particular during the peak season of paddy plantation.
Speaking on the occasion, Yogesh Sawhney said that “unprecedented” hike in petrol and diesel prices has hammered the people at the time of economic hardship imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. He said due to the coronavirus crisis, demand for fuel has fallen all over the world. Despite having a full stock of fuel, the government has burdened the common people by increasing fuel prices continuously for last 22 days.” Such a steep hike has not been effected in 70 years, he said, adding that it is “unprecedented”. “The poor and the middle class have been severely hit by the recent hikes. Such a situation has not been seen in any other country. All the countries are helping its people during the coronavirus crisis. “The Centre has hammered the people when the country is facing an economic slowdown. No government has hit its people so hard before.” He said petrol and diesel prices directly affect the common people but the Centre has not formulated any policy to deal with the economic slowdown and they passed on the burden to the masses. “No government can ignore people’s voice. Hike in petrol and diesel prices will have to be reversed,” he demanded.
Chief spokesman JKPCC Ravinder Raina accused the BJP of going back on its promise to reduce petrol and diesel prices. This vow was taken by Saffron partymen during election campaigning. “The common man is suffering owing to inflated prices of fuel and can’t afford to operate their vehicles. The surging fuel prices are also causing hike in other commodities and services which have added to their woes. He highlighted how BJP leaders used to protest against rise in fuel prices under the previous UPA governments at the Centre but were now justifying frequent increases in petrol-diesel rates. He said that with no action plan in place to control fuel rates, the anti-people face of the government has been exposed. “The government has set a new example of extortion from people through this unjustified increase in petrol and diesel prices,” he alleged. “This is not only unjust but also insensitive.” He said that the continuous increase hurts the farmers, the poor, the working class, the middle class and the small businesses.
Manmohan Singh speaking on the occasion said that common masses are reeling due to Covid-19 outbreak; the BJP government was turning disaster into an opportunity to make quick bucks. He said the government has burdened the people by increasing the excise duty on petrol and diesel. He said that the increase in fuel prices will result in a rise in prices of essential commodities adversely affecting the lives of people. He asked the Centre to cut fuel prices and extend benefits of low oil prices in the international market to the public. Manmohan said the increasing petrol and diesel prices since March is proof of the fact that the government is taking the hard-earned money of the people to fill its coffers.
