Hyderabad: Left parties to hold protests against rising commodity prices

Hyderabad: Leaders of ten left parties of Telangana gathered at the CPI-M State office MB Bhavan under the presidentship of CPI State secretary Chada Venkat Reddy and decided to launch protests all over the State against the rising prices of essential commodities, land registration rates, electricity and RTC bus fares in three phases from May 25 to 31.

As part of the programme, the left parties' activists will stage protests in Mandals and town headquarters on May 27 and dharnas at the district collectorates on May 30. In third phase, leaders will gather at the Indira Park and stage massive dharna on May 31 from 10 am to 1 pm.

The left leaders called upon the leaders of people's associations, intellectuals, democracy fighters and others to participate in the protests and dharnas in large numbers and make the programme successful. The left parties' leaders lamented that the Centre and the State government have been raising the prices of cooking gas, pulses, edible oils and food grains imposing unbearable burden on the poor and middle-class people in the country. They demanded the State and Union governments to immediately withdraw taxes on petrol, diesel, cooking gas, clothes, essential commodities, excise tax and GST.

They also demanded that the governments to strengthen public distribution system and supply 14 kinds of essential commodities. They also demanded that the governments pay Rs 7,500 minimum pay to the unorganised sector.