20 lakh people lost jobs due to note ban: Brinda

Vijayawada: CPM Politburo member Brinda Karat alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government at the Centre collected Rs.7.50 lakh crore in the form of Central Excise tax on fuel in the country during the last four years and demanded that the Union government should immediately slash the prices of petrol and diesel.

Brinda Karat participated in the `Meet-the-Press’programmeorganised by APUWJ at the Press Club here on Saturday. She said crores of people are suffering in the country due to the sky rocketing petrol and diesel prices. She sarcastically said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be congratulated and awarded for collecting the highest price of Rs.90 per litre in cities like Mumbai. The Union government is burdening people by collecting the highest Central Excise duty on the fuel.

Referring to demonetisation and GST, Brinda Karat said about 20 lakh workers lost the jobs in the country due to the impact of the demonetisation of high value notes. She said the Congress government introduced the economic reforms and the BJP government has been continuing and implementing them. India is facing many problems due to the failure of the economic policies being implemented by the Union government. She said petrol prices in India are very high compared to the countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

About national politics, she said efforts were on to create political alternative in the country and underlined the need to save the country from the rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Stating the Left parties in Andhra Pradesh have alliance with the Jana Sena of Pawan Kalyan, she said that the two parties have same goals and ideology that is achieving social justice. She said Chandrababu Naidu is implementing the same policies of Narendra Modi and the two governments are pro-rich.