Rallying point: Congress up in arms against fuel price hike

Congress leaders on Friday organised a rally in the city to vent their ire against the steep hike in petrol and diesel prices. Congressmen pulled cars with camel carts to highlight the plight of the common man. So far, whichever protest were held, be it on inflation or against the ‘poor’ state of law and order, the venue remained the same – the Collectorate circle.

However, this protest was held in Mansarovar which is a part of the Sanganer constituency. The protest was organised by Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee secretary Pundit Suresh Mishra, who is eyeing a ticket from this constituency currently represented by BJP rebel leader Ghanshyam Tiwari. The Congressmen assembled and took out a rally demanding that fuel prices be reduced and excise duty, as well as other taxes, be slashed.

They accused the BJP of going back on its promise to reduce petrol and diesel prices. This vow was taken by Saffron partymen during election campaigning. “The common man is suffering owing to inflated prices of fuel and can’t afford to operate their vehicles. The surging fuel prices are also causing hike in other commodities and services which have added to their woes. Hence, a protest was organised in which we pulled cars with ropes and camel carts pulled the cars to draw the attention of the government,” said Mishra.

The Congressmen at the rally highlighted how BJP leaders used to protest against rise in fuel prices under the previous UPA governments at the Centre but were now justifying frequent increases in petrol-diesel rates.  Jaipur District Congress Committee president Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said that with no action plan in place to control fuel rates, the anti-people face of the government has been exposed.