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Bengal minister cycles 40km to reach assembly to protest fuel price rise
TMC lawmaker Kalyan Ghosh joined Becharam Manna along the way from Domjur in Howrah, around 20 km from the assembly
West Bengal minister Becharam Manna travelled around 40km on a bicycle from his home in Singur to the state assembly in Kolkata to protest against the rising fuel prices days before the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has called for a two-day state-wide protest on July 10 and 11 to against the hike.
“I started around 8 am to reach the state assembly where the Budget session is going on. This is to protest against the hike in fuel prices, which has resulted in the increase of prices of all items. The Narendra Modi government has failed to alleviate the burden on the common man,” said Manna, the state labour minister.
TMC lawmaker Kalyan Ghosh joined Manna along the way from Domjur in Howrah, around 20km from the assembly.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the Modi government has failed to control the fuel prices. “It has no planning and vision. Everything from public transport to everyday commodities is becoming costlier. Repeated appeals to the Modi government have fallen on deaf ears,” he said.
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On July 5, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to Modi and requested him to slash taxes on fuels.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dilip Ghosh said they all want the prices to come down. “But the prices are rising because the fuel prices are linked to the international market. The state and the Centre should do away with the cess to bring down the prices of fuel.”
At Keshtopur in Kolkata, a cycle rally was organised to protest against the fuel price hike. Another state minister, Javed Khan, used bullock carts for a protest over the issue.
The state government has relaxed some of the Covid-19 restrictions and allowed public transportation from July 1. But over 95% of the private buses remained off the roads as transporters associations have demanded a hike in bus fares to cope up with the losses they are suffering due to rising fuel prices.
