Protesting Fuel Hike, BJD Rallies On Bullock Carts!
To protest the hike in the price of crude oil, which has been done almost nine times within the last one year, the BJD on Thursday decided to take the bull by its horns, literally! The party members took out a rally on bullock carts, moving around the heart of the city, holding placards against the Central Government and demanding for a revision of fuel rates.
Trying to convey that if the price of fuel continues to rise in such a manner, people would have no choice but to take to ancient modes of transportation, Youth BJD advisor Amaresh Jena told MCL, “Crude oil is mostly used for transportation purpose and through such a demonstration, we want to show how the common man will be hit when he cannot afford fuel for their vehicle. The way the prices are going up, very soon, people will not be able to afford it. The idea of this rally is we want to demand a revision in fuel rates.”
“These days,the rate of crude oil is 70 dollars per barrel, which is comparatively less than what it used to be earlier. So, it should be available at a lesser price to the public. However,on the contrary, the price is increasing across the country including our state. In the year 2014, the BJP Government had come to power by making promises about helping the common man. But by such decisions, the general public is the worst hit. And, the Central Government is doing nothing about it only to benefit some big companies of the country. So from today onwards, the Youth BJD and our student wing would be protesting against the increasing price across different places of the state till our demands are met. We also demand the resignation of the Petroleum Minister.”
On a similar note, party General Secretary and former minister Sanjay Das Burma said, “This is like looting the public. The only reason BJP came to power is because it made the people believe that it will always stand for the common man. But all promises have been proved wrong. The national party is too busy favouring the big companies. So, we strongly oppose this hike and we have decided to keep on protesting the increased price of crude oil.”
With the prices of both petrol and diesel having being increased recently, petrol currently costs Rs. 70 per litre while diesel has touched Rs 66.57 per litre.
