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No fuel, no autos & no cabs as strikes bring Delhi to its knees

Pump owners agitated against the Aam Aadmi Party government's refusal to reduce Value Added Tax on diesel and petrol, auto and taxi unions are opposed to the state's policies on cab aggregators.

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A closure sign outside a petrol pump in New Delhi on Monday after most city pumps went on a strike to demand reduction in VAT
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Residents in the Capital had a harrowing time on Monday as nearly 400 fuel pumps remained shut across the city amid strike calls by auto and cab unions. Buses and trains overcrowded through the day.

While pump owners agitated against the Aam Aadmi Party government's refusal to reduce Value Added Tax on diesel and petrol, auto and taxi unions are opposed to the state's policies on cab aggregators.

Unavailability of fuel forced people to head for Faridabad, Gurugram, Noida and Ghaziabad. "Driving all the way to Faridabad from my house is a task, especially on a working day," said Mukesh Trehan, a resident of Sarita Vihar.

According to Nishchal Singhania of the Delhi Petrol Dealers' Association, they were losing out on business as people are flocking to neighbouring Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to buy cheaper fuel. "Sale of petrol and diesel in Delhi has come down by 20 per cent and 30 per cent respectively. We fear it will decline further,"

The strikes also fuelled politics, with ruling AAP and opposition BJP trading charges against each other. While Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed that the strike was "sponsored by the BJP", the party countered AAP, blaming it for the logjam. In a tweet, Kejriwal said, "BJP people have threatened petrol pump owners of Income Tax raids if they did not go on strike. The oil companies also stated that tough action will be taken against petrol pumps not on strike."

Delhi BJP, on the other hand, accused the AAP for not lowering the VAT and hence creating the chaos.

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