Activists of the Communist Party of India(Marxist) and CPI(ML) staged separate demonstrations here on April 4 in protest against recurrent hike in the prices of fuel as also power tariff.
Leading a protest by CPI(M) activists in front of the Sagar Hotel centre in Ongole, CPI(M) district assistant secretary G.V.Konda Reddy said taxes imposed by the Union and Andhra Pradesh governments accounted for over ₹80 in the price of petrol that was close to ₹120 now.
The repeated hike in the prices of petrol and diesel came at a time when Russia had offered to provide crude oil at a cheaper rate, he said. Power-purchase agreements with private players that the A.P. government entered into were responsible for power tariff hike to the tune of ₹4,300 crore, CPI(M) city secretary G. Ramesh said, adding that people consuming less than 300 units of electricity should be provided relief by giving preference for power generated by public sector GENCO.
It was unfortunate that the Jagan Mohan Reddy government is imposing unbearable burden in the form of hike in fuel price and power tariff, said CPI(ML) District Secretary Lalitha Kumari while leading a protest by the party activists in front of the Prakasam Bhavan here.
