Activists of the Congress staged a demonstration outside a public sector fuel outlet here on Friday in protest against the ‘unprecedented’ increase in the prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas.
Leading the protest on a call given by the All India Congress Committee, Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president Sripathy Prakasam said fuel prices had risen 23 times in less than a month at a time when all sections of people were facing untold hardships in the wake of a surge in COVID-19 cases.
“Instead of providing relief to the common man, the Centre hiked excise duty by ₹23.87 per litre on petrol and ₹28.37 on diesel over the rates prevailing during the UPA regime,” Mr. Prakasam said, adding that the people wanted the return of the United Progressive Alliance to power at the Centre. “The UPA government had ensured petrol at ₹67 per litre even when the crude oil was ruling at a very high 107 USD per barrel,” Mr. Prakasam said.
“The BJP should realise that the diesel price hike has a cascading effect on all essential commodities and should forthwith cut the excise duty on fuel,” Prakasam district committee president Eda Sudhakar said. The hike will prove to be the saffron party’s political waterloo, he opined.
