Farmers Movement Archive

Congress in Uttarakhand protests farm laws, soaring fuel prices

The opposition Congress on Saturday held state wide marches across Uttarakhand against the farm laws rising fuel prices and accusing the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state of doing nothing to give relief to the common man.The protests were held in the headquarters of all the 13 districts. In Dehradun, the march was attended by hundreds of party workers and was led by party state president Pritam Singh and leader of Opposition Indira Hridayesh. The state unit’s vice president Suryakant Dhasmana, general secretary Vijay Saraswat, Dehradun city unit president Lal Chand Sharma and other leaders were also among the protesters.Addressing the protesters, Pritam Singh launched a scathing attack on the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state of "not fulfilling their promises to the public of bringing down prices.""Before coming to power in 2017, the BJP had said a double engine government would boost development in the state by curbing prices of essential commodities. But now with the common man suffering due to high fuel prices, the promise is nowhere to be seen," said Singh."Today due to high inflation, a common man cannot buy both vegetables and lentils. The petrol price has touched ₹100 per litre for the first time in history while the price of LPG cylinder has touched ₹900 from ₹400. The poor and farmers are suffering but the government is absolutely paying no heed."Leader of Opposition, Hridayesh too attacked the BJP government saying it is doing nothing for the welfare of people."The government doesn't even care for the sufferings of the people. All it cares about is to safeguard the interests of a handful of crony capitalists. The only way to give relief to the public is the ousting of BJP from the state in 2022 assembly elections," said Hridayesh.In Haldwani, the march was led by party district president Satish Nainwal."The Congress is protesting against the anti-people governments in the Centre and state by coming out on the road. This protest will continue as we are raising the voice of people," said Nainwal.The BJP tried to brush away the protests saying "it is desperate to find any ground in the political scenario in the state before 2022 elections.""The Congress has been rejected by the public long ago. Hence it is showing its desperation with such events which have no support of the public which will again rule it out in the 2022 elections by supporting the BJP for its development works," said BJP state president Bansidhar Bhagat.

Hindustan Times

20-02-2021

India