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| Congress continue protest demonstration against hike in fuel prices | | Anti-people face of BJP has come out with unjust hike in petroleum products: Mir | Jammu, February 28 (Scoop News)-J&K Congress on Sunday continued protest demonstration at Paloura, Ward-60, Jammu against the BJP government for the continuing incessant hike in fuel prices all over India. The protest was organized by President District Jammu Rural Hari Singh Chib,Corporator Ward-60 Rajni Bala and led by JKPCC Chief GA Mir and joined by hundreds of party workers including JKPCC Vice President Raman Bhalla, Former Minister Mulla Ram, General Secretary Manmohan Singh, Distt President Urban Yogesh Sawhney, General Secretary Kanta Baan, former MLA Shiv Dev Singh. Other prominent leaders who joined protest include Uday Bhanu Chib JKPYC President, NSUI J&K President Sunny Parihar, OBC Chairmen Suresh Kumar Dogra Gajan Singh, Kuldeep Kumar BDC chairman Bhalwal, Block President Jatinder Singh Chib, Rana Partap, Bupinder Singh Jamwal, Rajinder Kumar, Jung Bahadur, Sunny Jatt, Baber Ali, Shiv Raj Singh, Shahbaz Ahmad, Dev Raj, Dhanish Jamwal, Ashok Kumar, Gurdas Maan, Kamal Singh, Ram Paul, Balkar Singh, Uttam Chib, Rajesh Sharma, Atul Sharma, Chandershaker, Rajveev Panda, Latish Sharma, Ajaz Choudhary, Jatinder Chib, Sahil Singh Langeh, Jatin Vishisht , Happy Randhawa beside others.The protesters were moving towards Governor House to send message to Union Govt to stop anti-people move. However, they were not allowed to do so as their march was stopped by the police. The protesters held placards and raised slogans against the government in a bid to raise their voice against the day by day increasing petrol and diesel prices. They demanded an immediate cut in taxes to ease the burden on the common man. Meanwhile Mir along with senior leaders were taken into preventive custody by Janipur Police .
Speaking on the occasion, Mir said that Congress party is on roads to awaken BJP Govt from sleep. Petrol price has crossed Rs 100 a litre, diesel has crossed Rs 90 in many parts of the country, and the price of cooking gas cylinders are increasing day by day," he said."What is shameful is that despite this kind of open loot, the BJP government" is trying to shift the blame, he added. He said Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's statement that fuel prices will go down once the winter ends was "stupid" and demanded his resignation. The leader asked the central government to reduce the prices of petrol, diesel and gas with immediate effect. People of the country had chosen PM Modi and his ministers on the promise of 'aache din', now the trust of PM Modi and his government has been broken. Farmers, youth, labourers, businessmen, women are badly suffering from inflation. The anti-people face of BJP has come out," he alleged.The high retail price of petrol and diesel continues to impact the common man even though global market has thrown enough cues for a sharp cut in the price of auto fuels, he added.
Mir dismissed the advertisements given by the petroleum ministry to defend the hike as misleading. The government is telling only a half-truth. Now, those wishing to travel to hill destinations in the summer in J&K will have to shell out 30 per cent extra. Every one -- tourists as well as hoteliers --- will be affected by the increase in the prices,” he said, recalling as how the pandemic had already caused a setback to the tourism industry in 2020.So, instead of giving some respite to the hotel industry reeling under the crisis since February 2020, the steep climb in the prices of petrol and diesel are bound to have a strong impact on the common man, and also budget tourists. This means if the state government wanted to give relief, it could have really reduced its share of VAT to bring down the prices. The tourists are bound to feel the pinch. Pandemic lockdown broke the backbone of the tour and travel sector and now the petrol prices have hit them hard. The hoteliers who provide pick-and-drop facility to the tourists as part of their package are also agitated over the adverse impact of the petroleum prices.“We are expecting a good tourist season in summer. A lot of people who could not come because of the lockdown and fears of the Covid-19 infection will surely come to the hills to holiday. But the rising prices of the petrol and diesel will surely upset their budget,” said JKPCC Chief.
Speaking on the occasion, former Minister and senior Congress leader Raman Bhalla said that hike in fuel price has severely hit the already ‘broken back bone’ of the common man in the country amid the pandemic. The cornavirus infection and lockdown imposed due to this pandemic many people had lost their jobs. Amid this unemployment crisis, where people are roaming around to get a job for living the fuel price has become another challenge for them. He said that the coronavirus lockdown has already broken their back bone and now the continuous increase in fuel hikes pushing their lives into hell. He also demanded the government issue white paper on the Ujjawala scheme and LPG subsidy.“The prices of petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders are increasing day by day, but the government is doing nothing. Bhalla said when the BJP came to power in May 2014, excise duty on petrol was only ₹ 9.20 per litre and on diesel ₹ 3.46 per litre. In the course of six years, the BJP increased excise duty to ₹ 23.78 per litre on petrol and ₹ 28.37 per litre on diesel.It is a fact that the Central government has raised the prices of petrol continuously. This government has become insensitive towards the poor. The government is bent on eradicating the poor, not poverty. It was during the Congress regime that while the price of crude oil stood at Rs 110 per barrel in the international market, the petrol was priced at Rs 47 per litre in Delhi. Now the crude oil price in international market stands at less than Rs 40 per barrel while the BJP has made petrol prices touch Rs 100,” he added. Our farmers and unemployed youth, as well as those working in the unorganised sector, have been forced to resort to strikes and protest to oppose the anti-people policies of the Central government to save their existence.
Mulla Ram in his address said that middle income households, particularly at the higher income levels, have suffered much more, because they had a lot more to lose. Then there is the question of direct and indirect taxes and the point that governments should tax incomes and not consumption because the rich end up paying too little while the working class ends up paying a disproportionately high level of taxes even on items of daily use. This is how this government has been killing growth whenever the economy has shown any signs of recovery. The taxman shows up to collect the nectar even before the flower blossoms. With rising fuel price the transporters have no alternative but to increase their freight rates which increases the inflation and ultimately affects the common people, added former Minister .
Former Minister Yogesh Sawhney maintained that his Party will continue to raise its voice in favour of the common man. They will continue with their protests till the time a decision is taken in these matters,” he said. BJP has betrayed the confidence of the common man, he added. Massive taxes on petroleum products are hurting household budgets and transportation costs are impacting the profitability of small businesses. What is worse that it comes at a time when the middle class is barely recovering from the impact of the Covid pandemic and we are threatened by a second wave of the pandemic. Unemployment figures had touched 23% during the pandemic and many continue to be out of jobs as the economy and the middle class was among those hit the hardest.
Hari Singh Chib speaking on the occasion termed increasing rates are like rubbing salt on the wounds of the common man, who have already suffered losses during the Covid-induced lockdown. He further said that be it the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre or LG Govt in J&K, they are least bothered about the common man. The three new farm laws, steep hike in prices of petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders clearly reflect that the ruling party has no sympathy for the common man.” He said that opposition by political parties, farmers, and even the common man has failed to make any impact on the ruling party at the Centre or in J&K.
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