As many as 30 Congress party workers were detained on Friday for demonstrations at petrol pumps in several parts of Delhi. The party workers on Friday held protests against the rising petrol and diesel prices across the country as they demanded a complete rollback of the price hike.
Police detained over 30 protesters from the spot of the demonstrations for not following Covid-19 protocol. "We detained the protesters as such gatherings are not allowed due to the ongoing Covid situation. They will be released soon," PTI quoted a senior police officer as saying.
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Protests against the rising fuel prices were held in various parts of several states like Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
K C Venugopal and Shakti Singh Gohil even reached the petrol pump at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi on a horse cart to protest against the outrageous rise in prices.
"We demand that the government immediately rollback the hikes due to which the price of essential commodities is also rising. The government must stop this loot," Venugopal, who is the Congress general secretary, said.
{{/usCountry}}"We demand that the government immediately rollback the hikes due to which the price of essential commodities is also rising. The government must stop this loot," Venugopal, who is the Congress general secretary, said.
{{/usCountry}}Lashing out at the Centre for increasing the fuel prices, Venugopal said the government is only busy with the construction of the Central Vista Project. He said while on one side the people of the country are suffering, they (the government) are hiking fuel prices every day.
"The government should stop imposing excise duty on petrol and diesel. It should come under the purview of Goods and Services Tax," Venugopal said while demanding the government to stop the loot.
He also claimed that under the UPA government the tax on petrol and diesel was ₹9.20 and now it is ₹32, reported PTI.
The IYC chief Srinivas BV also accused the Union government of spending the tax revenue from fuel on "extravagant projects", reported the news agency.
“The reduction in fuel prices comes only on the occasion of elections. The BJP's loot starts again as soon as it gets time from the election campaign,” PTI quoted Srinivas as saying.
Petrol and diesel prices surged again on Friday by 31 paise per litre and 28 paise per litre, respectively.
In Delhi, petrol now costs ₹95.85 per litre, whereas diesel costs ₹86.75 per litre.
States, where petrol prices have crossed the century-mark, include Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan and Ladakh.