Expressing concern over the sharp rise in prices of petrol, diesel and gas besides other essential commodities, the activists of Jammu and Kashmir National Panther Party (JKNPP) on Thursday held protest here at exhibition ground.
The protest was led by JKNPP chairman, Harsh Dev Singh.
The activists during their protest raised anti-BJP slogans and torched its effigy to express their resentment over the current inflation trends of fuel and gas in the country.
Describing India’s petrol and diesel prices costliest in Southeast Asia, Harsh divulged that while the international prices of crude oil had fallen sharply from an annual average but the Centre had hiked excise duty on petrol and diesel over ten times. He further said that at the time when GST had been introduced to rationalize indirect taxes in the country, it was indeed hypocritical to keep petro-products outside the GST ambit in order to raise additional central revenues. He regretted that inflation had become a benchmark of BJP’s governance and the collection of exorbitant excise duty over Rs. 2.5 lakh crore per year from diesel and petrol had become a new normal which was like looting people and not at all justified. Referring to the price rise of domestic gas in the country on a frequent basis, Singh said that with the petrol and diesel becoming dearer, the price rise of other petroleum products like domestic LPG cylinders had also added to the woes of the end consumers. With the price rise of non -subsidized LPG cylinder to Rs 854 per cylinder, it had recorded the steepest increase in six years, Harsh maintained.
Singh said that while the BJP was in opposition, its front line leaders wasted no time to lodge series of protest demonstrations at every nook and corner of the country against the price rise of essential commodities. But now when the Saffron party having been in power for the last four years, the inflation rate had peaked all time high and broken all records with none of its ministers uttering a word over the soaring prices, he added.
He asked the Government of India to immediately withdraw the massive excise duty imposed on diesel and petrol to provide relief to the common man against the spiraling prices of gas and fuel.
Rajesh Padgotra, Gagan Pratap Singh, Rampaul Sharma, Nirmal Kishore, Rajesh Gondhi, Kewal Krishan Sharma, Mohinder Singh, Vishav Singh, Sansar Chand, Ashok Chauhan and Naresh Sharma also spoke on the occasion.