CPM takes out rally against petro hike

Visakhapatnam: The CPM leaders and activists took out rallies in and around the city and formed human chains at prime junctions like Maddilapalem, Gajuwaka and Jagadamba against the State and Central governments for increasing petrol and diesel prices here on Tuesday.

Speaking on the occasion, CPM leader Ch Narasinga Rao  demanded that the Central government bring down the petrol and diesel prices by bringing petrol and diesel under Goods Service Tax (GST) as the people were suffering from day to day price hikes in the past four years. 

He alleged that the Modi government had hiked almost 105 per cent on petrol and 330 per cent on diesel in the past four years . Actually, the price of the petrol per litre was Rs 30 whereas the state government was earning Rs 28 as state tax and the Central government was earning Rs 22 as central tax, even the highest slab rate in GST was 28 per cent whereas the State and Central governments are collecting over 62 per cent taxes on petrol and diesel from the people of Andhra Pradesh. 

Both the governments are looting the public and demanded that the government bring petrol and diesel under GST as the highest slab rate is 28 per cent so that the petrol and diesel prices would come down. 

CPM Secretary (Vizag) B Ganga Rao said that our country is importing 80 per cent of crude oil from other nations. In 2014, the barrel price of the crude oil was around 140 dollars  and later it was slipped to 28 dollars also.

At present, the barrel price of the crude oil is 80 dollars, which implies that during Modi’s regime the crude oil was available at 60 dollars, but the Modi government did not reduce the diesel prices in the state. The Central government is troubling the common man and collecting huge taxes from them and benefiting the corporate companies, he alleged.