A Bengal minister travelled around 40km on bicycle to protest against rising fuel prices. Becharam Manna travelled from his home in Singur to the state assembly in Kolkata. TMC has also called for a two-day state-wide protest on July 10 & 11 against the hike. TMC's Kalyan Ghosh joined Manna from Domjur in Howrah, around 20km from the assembly. On July 5, CM Mamata Banerjee wrote to PM Modi & requested him to slash taxes on fuels. West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh said they all want the fuel prices to come down. At Kolkata's Kestopur, 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 Covid restrictions & allowed public transportation from July 1. However, more than 95% of the private buses in Bengal remained off the roads. Transporters associations have demanded a hike in bus fares due to rise in fuel prices.
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