Bhubaneswar: The BJD on Tuesday announced to organise a three-day demonstrations at all the petrol pumps across the state from September 7 to protest against the rise in fuel prices, just one day after the Congress had staged a roadblock between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar at Balikuda on the issue.
The Congress had alleged that Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan was responsible for this as he failed to keep the prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas under control. The petrol prices on Tuesday reached Rs 78 in Bhubaneswar, but it is being sold at Rs 81 in districts such as Nabarangpur and Koraput.
Announcing the party's programme, BJD general secretary and MLA Sanjay Das Burma said: "The peaceful demonstration will be held for two hours from 10am to 12noon at all the petrol pumps. We will educate people about the Centre's failure to rein in the price of petroleum products. All wings of the party, including students, youths and women, will join the protest."
Das Burma said: "Without taking steps to contain price hike, the way Pradhan remained silent by citing that the price rise was linked to an international issue was unfortunate and shocking. The Centre now turned to be the government of rich and capitalist. The petrol price reached Rs 81 per litre in backward districts such as Nabarangpur and Koraput."
The party alleged that the Centre had increased the central taxes by 12 times on petroleum and 500 times on diesel. "The central tax has jumped from Rs 9.20 to Rs 19.84 in just four years. Similarly, the central tax has leapfrogged to Rs 15.33 from Rs 3.46 during the same period. Even though the prices of oil in the international market has starred receding, the Centre is yet to take steps on the issue," said Das Burma.
The party alleged that the Centre's economy policy had totally collapsed. "The Centre collected Rs 88,600 crore of revenue in 2013-14, and by 2017, it reached to Rs 2,53,254 crore. Now, the Centre should rise to the occasion and address the plights of the common man. We will continue to protest till the government slice the petroleum price," he said.
OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik said: "The BJD government has become dormant and has no courage to stand against the BJP. The common people are bearing the brunt of price hike. The BJP government in busy in making profit at the expense of the common man."
On the other hand, the BJP on Tuesday said the state government should reduce the Value Added Tax from petroleum products. "Instead of criticising others, the BJD government should reduce the VAT collection from petroleum products," he said.
Student suicide
The body of a student of government polytechnic in Balangir was found hanging inside a house at Shantipada area of the district on Tuesday. The deceased student has been identified as Chandrasekhar Behera, who was a final-year diploma engineering student. It is suspected that he has committed suicide using a rope inside a rented house where he had been staying for the last few days. The circumstances under which Behera took the extreme step are yet to be ascertained. The body has been seized by the police and an investigation is underway
