BALURGHAT/KOLKATA: Trinamool Mahila Congress organised a rally in south Kolkata to protest against the hike in the prices of petroleum products, cooking gas and medicines.
Petrol price was on Wednesday hiked by 84 paise a litre in Kolkata while diesel price was raised by 80 paise per litre. Petrol in the city will now cost Rs 110.52 per litre as against Rs 109.68 previously while diesel rates have gone up from Rs 94.62 per litre to Rs 95.42, according to a price notification of state fuel retailers. This is the ninth increase in prices since the ending of a four-and-half-month-long hiatus in rate revision on March 22.
The rally started from Gol Park and passed through Rashbehari Avenue, Deshpriya Park and ended at Gol Park. Hundreds of Trinamool Mahila Congress workers took part in the rally. On Tuesday, Trinamool Chatra Parishad and Trinamool Youth Congress had organised rallies across the state on similar issue.
Chandrima Bhattacharya, state minister for Finance and president Trinamool Mahila Congress, said: "The BJP will not allow common people to survive. The prices of cooking gas and kerosene have reached beyond the reach of common people. The price of essential commodities is soaring and the BJP, to divert the attention of the people, is busy with insignificant issues," she said adding "It is amazing that the Prime Minister who gives his statement on each and every issue including the Rampurhat carnage is silent on the issue of price hike. He should come up with a statement as to why the prices of common medicines are going up. The costs of medicines that are used by the heart and diabetic patients have gone beyond their reach. There is not a single household irrespective of economic status where someone or the other is not suffering either from heart ailments or diabetes. The Centre is silent on the matter." Trinamool Congress will not spare the Centre and movements will be launched in other states to protest against the insensitive central government, she added. Trinamool MPs had protested against the price hike in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress' women wing staged a peaceful demonstration protesting exorbitant price hike in petrol and diesel in Balurghat on Wednesday. The protestors were led by the district president South Dinajpur Women TMC Pradipta Chakraborty, Balurghat town Women TMC president Purnima Das in presence of the party's women councillors of Balurghat civic body and other women activists.
Criticising the Modi government for the recent price hike in petrol and diesel, Chakraborty said: "The Narendra Modi-led Central government has failed to control the excessive price hike in fuel and left people in a misery. We are living in a developing country and not in a developed country where many people have been living under extreme poverty." She said the fuel price has already crossed the purchasing capacity of poor people. According to her, as per instruction of party supremo Mamata Banerjee, the women wing of TMC conducted the rally.