The Communist Party of India (Marxist) staged a demonstration here on Thursday in protest against the skyrocketing prices of all essentials.
The cadre raised slogans demanding that the State government supply groceries and vegetables at subsidised rates through ration shops and Rythu Bazaars as their prices had shot up manifold.
Leading the protest, CPI(M) Ongole city secretary G. Ramesh said the ₹200 reduction in cooking gas price to tame inflation was too low as the per cylinder price had shot up to ₹1,200 now from ₹500 earlier, forcing the poor to switch over to firewood for cooking.
It was unfortunate that the ruling BJP at the Centre and the YSRCP in the State made the lives of the common people miserable by imposing high taxes on every commodity, including fuel, he said.
The Left would intensify struggles if the recurrent hike in power tariff by the State government was not withdrawn, he said.
