Delhi Cong takes out 'cycle yatra' against fuel price hike

New Delhi : Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar Chaudhary on Sunday undertook a "Cycle Yatra" from Connaught Place to the residences of all 10 MPs of Delhi, to hand over letters against fuel price hike.

Delhi has 7 lok Sabha MPs, all from the BJP and 3 Rajya Sabha MPs all from the Aam Aadmi Party.

The letter requested the MPs to intervene with their respective governments, to reduce the excise duty and VAT on petrol and diesel, to give relief to the citizens of Delhi.

But only Manoj Tiwari of the BJP and Sanjay Singh of the AAP personally took the memorandum from the Delhi Congress Chief.

Anil Kumar said that his "Cycle Yatra" was to highlight the insensitivity of both the BJP and the AAP governments with regard to the increase in the fuel prices, disregarding the plight of the people.

Lashing out at the MPs, Delhi Congress Chief said, "It was unfortunate that barring BJP MP Manoj Tiwari and AAP MP Sanjay Singh, none of the other Members of Parliament came out of their houses to receive the letters."

He said, Congress was doing this on behalf of the people of Delhi, and it was indeed very sad that these MPs who got elected by the votes of the citizens of Delhi, did not deem it fit to personally receive the letter.

The Congress has been regularly demanding to reduce the taxes on petrol and diesel but without getting any response. The party hoped that its latest campaign will be an eye-opener for the BJP and the AAP, who would rise above narrow political considerations to take up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, to serve the common interest of the people of Delhi.

The Congress also mounted an aggressive social media campaign -- "Munafakhori_Band_Karo" as the continued hikes in the oil prices for 23 days in June have made the life of the people miserable. The Congress leaders and workers strictly followed the social distancing norms even during their cycle yatra to the residences of the MPs, said the Congress statement.

The Congress said that for the first time in the history of the country, the people of Delhi are being made to pay more for diesel than petrol with the prices going over Rs 80 per litre.

The oil prices include around Rs 32 charged by the central government as excise duty and Rs 18 as VAT by the Delhi Government.