Mamata Banerjee rides pillion on electric scooter to protest fuel price hike

Mangalore Today News Network

Kolkata, Feb 25, 2021:     With a helmet on and a placard hung around her, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday rode pillion on an electric scooter to state secretariat Nabanna in protest against the skyrocketing fuel prices.

 

Mamata Banerjee was seen sitting behind Bengal minister Firhad Hakim, who rode the battery-powered electric scooter.

She hit the road on a scooter with a placard hanging around her neck. The placard, bearing a demonic face, read: "What is in your mouth? Petrol price hike. Diesel price hike. Cooking gas price hike"

Helmet-clad Mamata Banerjee waved at people on both sides of the road during the five-km-long journey from Hazra More to the state secretariat.

After reaching Nabanna, Mamata Banerjee slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre saying, "We are protesting against the fuel price hike. The [Narendra] Modi government only makes false promises. They have done nothing to bring down fuel prices."

"You can see the difference in petrol prices when the Modi government came to power and now," Mamata Banerjee was quoted by news agency PTI as saying.

"[PM] Modi and [Amit] Shah are selling the country. This is an anti-people’s government," Mamata Banerjee said.

Mamata Banerjee also criticised the BJP government for renaming the Sardar Patel Stadium, popularly known as the Motera stadium, in Ahmedabad after Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
RISING FUEL PRICES

An increase in international crude oil prices, triggered by production cuts by major oil-producing countries, has led to a sharp rise in petrol and diesel rates in India over the past few months.

After a two-day break, fuel prices in the country were hiked again by state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) on Tuesday. Petrol and diesel rates across the country have been increased by roughly 35 paise each.

Recently, petrol rates in several cities had crossed the Rs 90-mark. They are Kolkata (Rs 91.12), Chennai (Rs 92.90), Bengaluru (Rs 93.98), Bhubaneshwar (Rs 92), Hyderabad (Rs 94.54), Jaipur (Rs 97.34), Patna (Rs 93.56) and Thiruvananthapuram (Rs 92.81).

Experts say the government needs to find a way to rationalise taxes it collects on petrol and diesel to prevent another round of inflation. The inflationary impact due to the rise in fuel costs is already being felt by millions of consumers in the country, numerous sectors and businesses.

Courtesy:India Today