Nagpur: The Congress party protested the soaring fuel prices on Thursday at the district collectorate by pulling a car behind a bullock cart, and shouting slogans against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its leaders. The protesters said they were only highlighting the feelings of the common citizens, who is suffering due to the shocking rise in fuel prices.The protest was led by former mayor Vikas Thakre, who later also appealed to the district collector to bring down the highly inflated prices of fuel. The Congress party workers argued that even though crude oil prices are at their lowest in the past five years, the prices of diesel and petrol are at their highest. Also, at Rs85.80 per litre, Nagpur has the highest price of fuel in the entire country said the protesters.
The Congress activists had brought a bullock cart to the collectorate. They towed a car behind the bullock cart around the collectors office to highlight the inability to purchase fuel. The activists called on the BJP government at the state and centre to either rein in the rocketing fuel prices or resign from the government.
The Congress also protested the rise in LPG prices. “The government should maintain some correlation between crude oil rates and fuel rates charged across the country,” said Anand Tiwari, a Congress activist.
The protesters said that the best way to control fuel prices was to include fuel in GST schedule, since the varied central and state taxes were very irrational. The central government is imposing production tax of Rs19.48 on petrol and Rs15.33 on diesel, they said, besides which the state government is imposing a heavy tax of almost 46.52% on the fuel rates.
The protest by Congress activists was part of similar protests across India on the directions of Rahul Gandhi, who has challenged the Modi government to bring down the fuel rates.