Parties Protest Petrol Price Hike

Citizens across India were shocked when they saw on Sunday that the government had hiked the petrol price for the 7th time within a year, and that too by an astounding Rs. 5 - an all-time high. A litre of petrol now costs Rs. 70.

Having stalled the hike of the price of the fuel for more than 3 months with the recently concluded legislative elections in 5 states in view, the government allowed private oil companies to increase the fuel price 2 days after the results of the elections were announced.

The politicos across the state, as usual, were the foremost to react visibly to the price hike.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President N Chandrababu Naidu conducted a bike rally in Nalgonda, protesting against the hike.

Effigies were burnt, and rasta rokos were held across the state, by the members of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M).

Another group of protesting leaders had autos drawn along the road by a rope, and yet others rode rickshaws.

Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan voiced out the fear of the common man - the steep hike in petrol price may result in the increase of the prices of other essential commodities.

Some Hyderabadis also reportedly expressed concern that the autowallahs may soon strike for the upliftment of the base price.

At a national level, more than 300 members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged dharnas in New Delhi, and took a rally from the Akshardham temple to the Moti Nagar crossing, protesting against the petrol price hike.