Fuel price hike: Vajpayee, Advani court arrest

AB Vajpayee and LeLK Advani courted arrest to protest hike in prices of commodities in the country.

Accusing the ruling Congress-led UPA of backtracking on its election promises of working for benefit of the common man, former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee and Leader of the Opposition LK Advani on Monday courted arrest to protest hike in prices of commodities in the country.

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Vajpayee, Advani and scores of NDA MPs and BLP MLAs from Delhi courted arrest at the Parliament Street police station in New Delhi after an Opposition rally against the rise in prices of fuel and edibles.

BJP chief Rajnath Singh, JDU chief Sharad Yadav, Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh and BJP leaders Vijay Kumar Malhotra and Sushma Swaraj and the Shiv Sena's Manohar Joshi and Anand Geete were among others who courted arrest.

In his speech, Vajpayee dismissed the Congress-ruled states' move to slash sales tax on fuel prices as a "joke", demanding that the Centre reduce customs and excise duties on fuel to cut cost.