Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) staged a protest here on Wednesday against the BJP-led Centre over its alleged failure to control a raging inflation that has led to a steep rise in the prices of fuel and grocery items.
JKNPP chairman and former minister Harsh Dev Singh led the protest outside the Press Club, torching an effigy of the BJP government amid sloganeering.
“With a hefty excise duty, road cess, VAT on fuel and the additional farm cess being levied, the petrol and diesel prices have skyrocketed to Rs 100 per litre and Rs 90 per litre respectively. And with petrol and diesel becoming dearer, the price of the domestic LPG cylinders has further soared to Rs 900,” Singh said.
He said the astounding rates of groceries, including dairy products, cereals, pulses and edible oil, have broken the spine of the common man.
Singh alleged that inflation has become a benchmark of the BJP’s governance and “looting people by burning holes in their pockets has become synonymous with the saffron party”.
He also took a dig at the BJP for the surge in the number COVID-19 cases in the country during the second wave of the pandemic, saying the party floundered to provide the much-needed health infrastructure, essential drugs and vaccines to save precious lives.
“The fast-rising prices of essential commodities at such a crucial juncture have invariably shaken the faith of the common man in the BJP government. The poor people and daily earners not only faced the threat of the corona contagion, but felt extremely insecure in the wake of starvation staring them in the face due to loss of livelihood,” the JKNPP leader said.
