SAD’s transport wing gheraos Amarinder’s Patiala residence over fuel price hikes

Hold Centre and the Cong govt in Punjab responsible for manifold increase in prices of petroleum products

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)’s transport wing on Monday gheraoed the residence of Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh in Patiala city over frequent hikes in petrol, diesel and cooking gas prices.

Shiromani Akali Dal workers during a protest in Patiala on Monday.

The party workers, led by senior leader Prem Singh Chandumajra and transport wing chief Parmjit Singh Fazilka, handed over the keys of trucks, buses and other vehicles at the New Moti Mehal as a mark of protest.

Earlier, the demonstrators carried out a protest march in the CM’s hometown which culminated at YPS Chowk. Chandumajra said the BJP-led Centre and the Congress government in Punjab were directly responsible for manifold increase in prices of petroleum products.

“While the Centre is not reducing custom duty on these products, the Amarinder-led government in the state has imposed the country’s highest VAT on them. The VAT and custom duty together are ₹55 per litre tax on petroleum products. Both the governments should slash these taxes by 50 percent so that people can get a respite up to ₹30 per litre,” he added.

He said the Amarinder government dissolved the truck unions in the state after coming to power and later reduced loading charges, thus destroying the transport business. “More than 40,000 trucks and 65,000 taxis were sold in scrap in the last four-and-a-half years of the Congress rule in the state,” he claimed.

Parmjit Fazilka said the Amarinder government was regularly pursuing destructive policies for the transport sector.