District Congress Committee Jammu (Urban) Concludes 10 Day Agitational Program at New Plot
District Congress Committee Jammu (Urban) Concludes 10 Day Agitational Program at New Plot
Press Trust of Kashmir | Srinagar : Police Stops Congress Protesters From Marching Towards Governor’s House
“Will Continue the Fight Until the Government Cuts Back Prices”: Bhalla/Sawhney
District Congress Committee Jammu (U) concluded the 10- day long nationwide agitational program against price hike of petrol, diesel, LPG and essential commodities with a massive protest at New Plot on Saturday. The protest was organised by Kanta Bhan Vice President JKPCC and Block Congress Committee (Sarwal). The protesters marched towards the Governor’s House led by Former Minister J&K Raman Bhalla Vice President PCC, Former Minister J&K Yogesh Sawhney General Secretary PCC & Incharge District President Jammu (U), and Kanta Bhan. Heavy contingent of police deployed at the site stopped the protesters from marching towards the Governor’s House. The protesters raised slogans and held placards criticising the Modi- led Govt. for the overwhelming inflation crisis engulfing the country.
Former Minister Raman Bhalla, addressing the protest, stated that the ongoing inflation has broken the backbone of the country and unraveled a crisis. Middle and Lower income families are having to cut back on food and fuel consumption because they’re unable to meet their daily needs amidst the rising prices. This widespread distress is a direct result of the government’s tax policies and practices. None of the high prices can be justified. Especially in case of fuel, petrol is more than ₹100, the price of LPG cylinders is as high as ₹835 to ₹933 in some cities of India. He said that Modi Government is solely to blame over inflation and rising fuel prices and demanded immediate relief by reducing taxes on petroleum products and import duty on various items. Those who were under financial burden due to the COVID-19 pandemic have been further burdened by the unbearable hikes in the prices of petrol, diesel, cooking gas and all the essential commodities, with no relief coming from the Central Government.
Launching a scathing attack on BJP, he said that despite the plight of the people, the government has continued to increase prices in the recent months. Retail inflation hit 6.3% in May and June and poor households are struggling to buy milk, oil, pulses and many other essential items. Central revenue from taxing petroleum products has multiplied more than five-times in these last seven years. People will be forced to go back to riding bicycles and bullock carts if inflation continues at the rate it is currently going. The Modi government’s shameless silence on the issue is excruciating as well. The BJP leaders are pretending as if there is no issue of high prices and that people are not suffering. The BJP government, which came to power with the promise to control inflation in the country, is now causing it. Arguing that petrol prices are highest in India, Raman Bhalla blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for fleecing the public. He said the Centre was earning profit from the rising prices even as the common man was facing the burden of skyrocketing expenses for running households.
Speaking at the protest, Former Minister Yogesh Sawhney condemned the Centre for their failure to control inflation and letting the common man suffer under the burden of high costs of fuel and essential commodities. He said that the Government is leading an exploitative tax regime. We are going to fight alongside the people of the country with tooth and nail until the prices of all essential commodities are reduced by the government. People are battling inflation on top of fighting unemployment, economic hardships and going through a health crisis. No effective measures have been appointed by this government to curtail price rise and decrease the burden on people. The BJP leaders are blind to the plight of the people who are suffering on multiple accounts. The Congress party’s nationwide agitational program aimed at bringing government’s attention to this plight. If the government continues to be blind, we will not stop with this until drastic steps are taken.
Further attacking the Centre, the former Minister stated that country’s financial situation is at the brink of a breakdown. He said the rising prices are causing an intolerable burden on people it is hurting farmers and millions of families. Apart from fuel, the prices of many other essential commodities like pulses and edible oils too have skyrocketed causing widespread distress. The prices of household essentials such as edible oil, soap, shampoo have increased by 4 per cent to 20 per cent. Prices of vegetables and dairy products have also soared. If we take a look at facts we see that food inflation is at 5.58 per cent, pulses at 10.01 per cent, fruits at 11.82 per cent, transport at 11.56 per cent, fuel & light at 12.68 per cent, and oil & fat inflation is at 34.78 per cent. Besides, price of petrol and diesel has crossed the Rs 100-mark in most states has added to the financial stress of people. Despite these shocking numbers, there is zero relief from the government and no actions have been taken thus so far. With the support of the general public, we will continue to put pressure on the government until is ready to take some necessary steps.
Also speaking at the protest, Vice President JKPCC Kanta Bhan stated that the people of India are disappointed in the government for their constant failure in leading the country. Their failure to handle the pandemic was followed by their failure to save India’s economy. And now households are losing their money, jobs and savings. It is a case of financial drain from the people to the government. Who is to blame for incessant price hike if not the government? They levy heavy taxes on products including fuel making the final prices of products extremely High. Except for the rich one percent of India’s population, all of India’s people are unable to afford household items. They are being forced to cut back on their expenses, travel less, eat less, and spend less and waste away their years of saving to survive through this crisis. Small businesses and traders are also seeing a picture of misery. The government is busy in playing gimmicks such as the cabinet reshuffle while the real culprits still sit in power and lead the country into ruin and deterioration. The Congress Party along with the millions of suffering India are totally against the current situation of extreme inflation and will fight back until the government realises its grave errors. Prices need to be cut back immediately before Indian people become handicapped, he stated.
Along with Raman Bhalla, Yogesh Sawhney, and Kanta Bhan, prominent Congress leaders including Rajnish Sharma, Sanjeev Sharma, Rajeev Singh, Dr. Ramakant Khajuria, Uttam Singh, Ricky Dalotra (PYC), S P Sapolia, Chander Sheikhar Sharma, Vijay Kumar Block President, Jatin Vashisht,Raj Kumar Meenia, Ajay Kumar, Yash Pal Sangral, H S Baggi, Rakesh Sharma, Madhu Banraj, Pradeep Bhagat, Sikander Khan, Rishu Kumar Marks Gill, Sunil Kumar Sharma, Gulshan Ratan, Jai Pal, Koushalya Devi, Rajni Bala, Chanchala Devi, Reenu Belloria, Ashu Tak, Tilak Raj Kalotra, Satish Kumar, Varinder Sharma, Sujad Alli, Ramesh Gupta and Chanchal Dogra participated in the protest.(PTK).
