Congress calls for nationwide bandh against fuel price hike today

New Delhi: Escalating its attack on the central government, the Congress party has called for a nationwide shut down on September 10.

20 other political parties, including the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Samajwadi Party (SP), have extended their support to the Congress party against the fuel price hike.

In the wake of the same, the Mumbai Police served a notice to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena party (MNS) under section 149, which states that in case of any law and order situation in Mumbai, the party will be held responsible for the same.

The Karnataka government, meanwhile, declared a public holiday for today for schools and colleges in Bengaluru as a precautionary.

Fuel prices have been witnessing a hike in several states across the country over the past few weeks, burning a hole in the pocket of common man. The Indian rupee is also facing a decline in its value against the US dollar.

Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has earlier blamed international factors for the hike in fuel price and said that one major reason for the rise in petrol and diesel prices is the depreciation of the Indian rupee against the US dollar.