TURA, Feb 12: With elections to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council barely two months away, the ruling NPP-led government and its ally, the BJP, could be in for some hard questioning as the opposition Congress has begun its first set of protests against the farm laws and the rising cost of fuel which is impacting the economy and the public.
Holding a public protest at Ampati town in South West Garo Hills, Congress leaders led by Salmanpara MLA Winnerson D Sangma, Boldamgre MDC Stevie M Marak and state Youth Congress president Richard Marak raised slogans against the Modi government at the Centre and the NPP-led state government for failing to tackle the burning issue of high fuel costs.
“This is not the only injustice that we are protesting against today. We are also protesting against the alarmingly high prices of fuel. This is a burden on the common man. With rising prices of fuel comes the rise in cost of essential commodities. This is injustice and there is power in the state government to ease the burden by lowering the taxes,” said legislator Winnerson D Sangma as he targeted the Conrad Sangma government for allegedly remaining a mute spectator to the high costs.
“Today, we stand for the common man because this is a government for their rich friends. They are governing with ill intentions which benefit only their rich corporate friends while the rest of us become slaves. We stand in protest here today to show support to the farmers. The government should listen to the voice of the farmers and repeal the three laws immediately. We also like to question the voice of the regional parties, which is non-existent. They claim to be the guardians of the people and yet there is not a peep from them. Instead, they are hand in glove with the powers that are destroying the very fabric of our democracy,” accused youth president Richard Marak.
Challenging the Modi government on the fuel prices, Marak said “Comparing the prices of fuel during the UPA era (2014) and at present, the international prices of crude oil was around $104/barrel and still the then petrol prices was only Rs 71/litre whereas now international crude oil is only $54/barrel but petrol prices are nearing Rs. 100/litre. We, the people, are not benefitting from this price drop, instead we are taxed higher than ever before in the history of India. We demand that the state and central government lower the excise duties to what it was before and do away with other unnecessary cess and duties. We have to unite to do away with crony capitalism in order to safeguard our future and the future of our coming generations,” cautioned the youth president.
The Congress has warned that similar protests will be launched across the Garo Hills region in the coming days to apprise the public, particularly the voters, about the impact high fuel costs are doing to the economy.
