Hundreds of supporters of India's opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and left-wing parties held nation-wide demonstrations Saturday over an increase in the fuel prices. The government increased the price of diesel by 3 rupees (7 cents) per litre on Friday night, a move analysts said would further spike inflation that the government is struggling to control.
The government also raised the prices of kerosene by 2 rupees per litre and of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by 50 rupees a cylinder, to reduce fuel subsidies by the state-owned oil firms. BJP workers blocked roads and shouted slogans at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi's central commercial district of Connaught Place demanding a rollback.
"The government has failed to contain inflation, especially food price inflation that is going on unabated. The common man has not had any relief," BJP spokeswoman Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters. "To add insult to injury, they have now increased fuel prices which will have a cascading effect and cause further inflation," she said.
India's annual rate of inflation spiralled to 9.06 per cent in May, from 8.66 per cent the previous month, hitting the household budgets of millions of people. "Food prices are so high, it's astonishing. Poor people cannot eat properly. They will starve because they don't have enough money," said Raghubir Singh, a security guard in New Delhi.
Activists of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) also blocked a passenger train in the southern state of Kerala as part of their state-wide protests, the IANS news agency reported. Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy has rejected the opposition's demand for withdrawing the hike. "The increase is modest. There is no possibility (of a rollback)," he said.
The increase in the price of kerosene, considered a "poor man's fuel" could stoke further anger against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government, which has been criticised for rising corruption in government. Opposition parties have been holding nation-wide strikes in recent months against the ruling United Progressive Alliance government for its failure to control rising inflation.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.