Fuel price hike: Half-day bandh in Madhya Pradesh, protests in Delhi, Rajasthan

The Congress on Saturday took to streets in several states, including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi, protesting against the recent fuel price hike. In Madhya Pradesh, the party had announced a half-day state-wide bandh. Former chief minister Kamal Nath had also appealed to people to cooperate in the bandh.

What all happened in the states during the protest:

> Members of the Indian Youth Congress also protested against the rising fuel prices in the national capital. Protesters cooked food on a traditional firewood stove in a symbolic protest against the rising prices of LPG cylinder in Delhi. Congress members in Delhi demonstrated a shirtless agitation against the rise of LPG cylinder prices by ₹50 per unit.

> The opposition party also took out a march on foot and tractors in the capital of Rajasthan. The party while protesting in Jaipur agitated against the Centre's three new farm laws and the surge in the prices of diesel and petrol. Petrol cost ₹97.10 per litre, while diesel costs ₹89.44 per litre in Jaipur.

> Congress leaders like Digvijaya Singh and others protested in Bhopal, where a half-day bandh was also called. Several Congress leaders, including former Madhya Pradesh minister P C Sharma, were detained by the police during the protest. Petrol prices on Saturday in Bhopal stand at ₹98.60 per litre, while diesel in Bhopal costs ₹89.23 per litre. Protesters had a stand-off with the Police in Madhya Pradesh.

"I was detained from the bus stop number 6 with other Congressmen while we were requesting the shop owners to get the shutters down," PTI quoted PC Sharma as saying.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday commented on the price rise and said, "It's a vexatious issue in which no answer except for fall in fuel price will convince anyone. Both Centre & State should talk to bring down retail fuel price at a reasonable level for consumers..."