Congress MPs pull off major protest with garlanded cylinders against fuel prices

New Delhi: The protest against soaring fuels prices on Wednesday in the capital city streets saw people parading with garlanded cooking gas cylinders and overturned motorcycle.

Lawmakers of the Congress pulled off the riveting protest mocking the government as the fuel prices went up ninth time in 10 days.

Leading the charge, party lawmakers from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha took to streets at Vijay Chowk near the Parliament in Delhi.

The Karnataka unit of the grand old party brought to the streets gas cylinders garlanded as deities with a priest mock worshipping it.

Many party workers banged utensils, mockingly enacting PM Modi's covid-time call to bang plates.

Leading what it said a nationwide protest against fuel prices and cooking gas, the Congress asked for a rollback of the prices and accused the government of "stealing money from the poor."

Rahul Gandhi demanded the government to harness the prices, highlighting that the poor and the middle class have been worst hit.

Rahul Gandhi reminded people of his pre-election prediction that fuel prices would go up after results. Earlier this month he had asked people to fill up their vehicle tanks before the polls.

There was no hike for fuel for four and a half months in the run-up to assembly elections in five states.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman reportedly blamed the war in Ukraine for international crude prices going up.

Opposition parties including Trinamool Congress and DMK came out protesting saying that hike could snowball into rising prices of essential commodities.

Lawmaker of Congress, Trinamool, NCP, DMK and Left parties staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha on March 22 after Speaker Om Birla disallowed them from raising the issue, according to NDTV.

Meanwhile, states not ruled by BJP have protested against the Centre for not reducing central excise duty on fuel. They claimed they had already lowered Value Added Tax (VAT).