GUWAHATI, May 16 � Members of the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samity (KMSS) today staged a demonstration in the city against the hike in the prices of petroleum products.
The KMSS held a protest meeting at 11.30 am at Silpukhuri Nabagraha Crematorium Kalimandir campus and followed it with a procession from Silpukhuri to the office of the Kamrup Metro Deputy Commissioner.
Several autorickshaw drivers associations joined the demonstration which was led by KMSS general secretary Akhil Gogoi. The State leadership of CPI (ML) also took part in the protest.
The agitators shouted slogans against price rise and decried the neo-liberalization policy of the UPA government at the Centre. Later, the protestors submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh through the Deputy Commissioner demanding a rollback in petrol prices besides rescinding the move to effect hikes in the prices of diesel and cooking gas.
�The decision taken by Indian oil companies to increase petrol prices and endorsed by the UPA government is another addition to the increasingly anti-people programmes of the Government of India. In the name of removing subsidy from essential commodities, such a decision to increase petrol prices is highly taxing on the Indian economy and the economy of Assam besides being detrimental to the well-being of a large section of people,� the KMSS memorandum said, adding that people had reason to believe that the hike was a ploy to recover all the expenses incurred by the UPA during the recent Assembly elections.
Meanwhile, the KMSS today started its campaign in connection with the mass convention against corruption featuring Anna Hazare scheduled for May 20 at the Assam Engineering Institute playground, Chandmari.
The All Assam Students� Union also vehemently opposed the hike in petrol saying that it would have a debilitating impact on the masses and the economy. It demanded that the hike be withdrawn at the earliest.
