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Protestors belonging to various political parties protested against the Central Government on Thursday over the rising prices of petroleum products. Scores of members and supporters of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) party staged a protest in Tamil Nadu's Chennai city condemning the Central Government for its anti-people attitude. Angered by the hike in fuel prices the activists raised anti-government slogans and demanded for the increase to be rolled back immediately. "This price hike by the Government is anti-people and there is no justification. It will hit the life of the common man. The Indian government needs to be condemned for its anti-people policies," said MDMK chief Vaiko. "With this hike, the prices of all commodities are bound to rise affecting common people. Inflation will reach new heights," he added. Meanwhile, at Siliguri in West Bengal, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists staged a protest, which brought the traffic to a halt. "This road blockade is being done by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the entire West Bengal against the rise in the prices of petrol, diesel and gas. We are against the Congress and Trinamool Congress at the Centre, so we are launching a protest against them," said Biswa Priyo Roy Chowdhury, General Secretary of West Bengal State unit of BJP. The Central Government had on June 25 decided to raise petrol and diesel prices, as part of a plan to move towards a market-determined fuel price regime in accordance with the Kirit Parikh Committee recommendation. The government has raised the price of petrol by Rs 3.73 and diesel by Rs 2 per litre.

Mass protests against fuel price hike