Bhopal/Indore, June 24 Congress leaders and supporters on Wednesday took out cycle rallies in Bhopal and Indore to protest against the increase in fuel prices, including former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh who led the protest in state capital Bhopal.
Digvijaya Singh, elected to the Rajya Sabha on June 19, led his party leaders for a cycle march from the Roshanpura intersection to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's residence in Bhopal.
"Today, when the people are facing a grim crisis due to COVID-19 and inflation is rising and people are dying of hunger, the central government has increased the petrol and diesel prices for the 18th consecutive day."
"As (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji says 'people must look for opportunity in a disaster'. Even the corona disaster is an opportunity for the Centre to earn money," he added.
At Indore, former Higher Education Minister Jitu Patwari, MLAs Sanjay Shukla and Vishal Patel, city Congress president Vinay Bakliwal along with other leaders and supporters pedalled from the Nehru statue at Madhumilan square to the Gandhi statue at Regal square and submitted memorandums to the President and Prime Minister through the Divisional Commissioner.
"The BJP had come to power by making claims of bringing down the inflation rate. Narendra Modi had said that he will bring the rate of dollar and rupee at par but instead he has levelled the prices of diesel and petrol," Patwari said.
He said that people are already facing losses in business, and jobs are drying up, the economy has slowed down and people are harried. "By raising petrol and diesel prices by over Rs 8-11 in the last 18 days the government has placed an additional burden on the public," Patwari claimed.
Bakliwal said that crude oil in the international market was priced about $45 per barrel but the government was unnecessarily increasing the prices. "Prices of fuel during the Manmohan Singh-led Congress government didn't go beyond Rs 70 even while prices in the international market at that time were $135 per barrel."
( With inputs from IANS )