THE Left parties staged protests against the steep hike in prices of petroleum products throughout Andhra Pradesh on October 28. These include rasta rokos, sit-in dharnas, pulling autos with ropes, cooking on firewood etc. Protests were organised in Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Kurnool, Nellore and other cities and in many mandal head quarters.  The protesters raised slogans against the central government and prime minister Narendra Modi.

In Vijayawada, the police physically lifted the protesting leaders, and workers of the CPI(M), CPI and various mass organisations, who virtually laid siege to the roads in the one town area. Traffic came to a grinding halt for some time. CPI(M) state secretary P Madhu said the state and central governments were not taking steps to control the prices of petroleum products. The BJP leaders were suggesting to change the designs of the two-wheelers, but not taking steps to control the prices. The prices of essential commodities and bus fares have increased following the rise in petrol prices. Both the state and central governments were engaged in mudslinging against each other but not addressing the issue, he said. CPI state secretary K Ramakrishna said petrol price was Rs 60 a litre when the Modi government came to power. Now it touched Rs 114. The price of diesel was Rs 50 per litre, and now it costs Rs 104 per litre. Similarly, the prices of LPG, power tariff, property taxes, user charges on garbage collection have increased. The state and central governments are competing with each other in implementing anti-people policies, he said.