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New Delhi: Street
protests rocked parts of India against a sharp hike in petrol
prices that the opposition denounced as an assault on the common
man.
Both in metros and smaller towns, opposition activists took to the
streets raising slogans against the government and, in some cases,
clashing with police.
Petrol prices have gone up by Rs.7.50 a litre. Consumers in
Bangalore and Hyderabad will now pay over Rs.81 -- due to higher
taxes.
A 12-hour bandh called by the Left Democratic Front shut down
parts of Kerala, where even the ruling Congress expressed
unhappiness over the hike in petrol prices announced Wednesday.
A state-owned bus was stoned by a crowd at Kollam, about 60 km
from Thiruvananthapuram. Public transport went off the roads and
attendance in government and private offices was thin in the
state.
The Trinamool Congress, which has attacked the government for
increasing petrol prices, took out a massive rally in Kolkata.
Railway Minister Mulul Roy was one of the marchers.
Communists staged separate protests in the city.
Some 100 odd people gathered in Mumbai's Juhu area holding
placards and demanding that the price rise -- effective from
midnight Wednesday -- be rolled back.
Communist activists organised rallies all across Tamil Nadu, as
well as in the capital New Delhi.
In Pondicherry, AIADMK members organised a novel protest, with
bullock carts ferrying two-wheelers to show that petrol was now
beyond the reach of the middle class.
A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) woman activist suffered burns while
setting fire to an effigy in Uttar Pradesh.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has called for an
all-India strike May 31.
In Mumbai, where the BJP national executive opened its meet
Thursday, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi described the
higher petrol prices a "gift" from the UPA-II government on its
third anniversary.
The opposition continued to hit out at the government.
The four Left parties, including the CPI-M, Thursday called the
government move "a savage attack" on the people.
The steepest hike ever in the price of petrol was announced a day
after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned of "difficult"
decisions his government would have to take to mop up revenue.
In the Kashmir Valley, no one was willing to buy the official line
that the price hike was an independent decision of the oil
companies.
Many feared that diesel and LPG prices may also shoot up.
"The worst is yet to come. A hike in diesel and cooking gas rates
will spell complete disaster for us," said Srinagar resident
Shabir Ahmed, 29.
Protests and demonstrations took place in many parts of Odisha. In
Bhubaneshwar, the youth wing of the BJP organised a motorcycle
rally, and slogan-shouting people gathered outside petrol pumps.
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