Kothagudem: CLP leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka embarked on a ‘bicycle yarta’ from Bhadrachalam to Khammam to protest the increase in petrol, diesel and LPG cylinder prices by the Narendra Modi government.
Before taking up the bicycle syatra, he prayed on Sunday at Sri Sita Ramachandra Swamy Temple in Bhadrachalam district. The yatra, which covers about 213 km, will conclude on March 12 in Khammam, where a meeting of party leaders is scheduled.
In the media, Vikramarka said that the rise in petrol, diesel and LPG cylinder prices forced the country to go back 40 years. As a result, people were forced to cycle as a means of transportation. During the Congress regime in the past, even when crude oil prices reached US $ 138 per barrel, the government managed to keep the prices of petrol and diesel at Rs 55 and 44 respectively.
With the price of crude oil around the world, the prices of gasoline and diesel must be halved. But the governments that impose heavy taxes that raise their prices beyond the reach of the general public, the Congress leader claims.
The rise in petrol, diesel and LPG cylinder prices also has a tantalizing effect of rising the prices of essential products and prices of articles in restaurants. And it has become a burden for the middle class and poor families, Vikramarka said.
He complained that the state and central governments levied enormous taxes on petrol and diesel. The tax on petrol and diesel is only Rs 12 per liter, but now the governments are levying a tax of about Rs 58 per liter.
The Congress leader further claimed that the Government of Modi had tried to throw thousands of employees off the roads by privatizing the public sector enterprises established in the Congress government. The center also planned to privatize SCCL and Heavy Water Plant.
Bhadrachalam MLA, Podem Veeraiah, MLC, T Jeevan Reddy, former Union Minister, P Balaram Naik, former MLC, P Nageswara Rao, Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda graduates party MLC candidate Ramulu Naik and others were present.
Source: Telangana Today