Protests in Andhra over petrol price hike

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Opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh held protests across the state on Sunday to demand a rollback of the hike in petrol prices.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged protests in different parts of the state. Leaders and activists of these parties organised road blockades, took out rallies and set afire effigies representing the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Central government.

The CPI, CPI-M and BJP held protests in the state capital. CPI state secretary K. Narayana rode a cycle-rickshaw in a unique protest at Narayanguda crossroads. Waving party flags and banners, a large number of CPI activists participated in the protest. Narayana also set afire a motorbike to protest the price hike.

"The government has yet again imposed a huge burden on the common man. We will continue our protest till it rolls back the hike," Narayana told reporters. CPI-M state secretary B.V. Raghavulu led the protest at RTC crossroads. He urged the government to immediately withdraw the price hike. BJP senior leader Bandaru Dattatreya said the Congress gifted people the price hike a day after the election results were out in five states

"The government is not going to stop with this. It will also increase the prices of diesel and gas," he said. Dattatreya demanded that the Andhra Pradesh government provide some relief to the people by cutting down the taxes on petroleum products. TDP activists staged huge protests in Vijayanagaram and Khammam towns. The BJP organised road blockades in Tirupati and Khammam. In the steepest hike so far, the price of petrol was raised by 5 per litre in an over 8 per cent increase from Saturday midnight.