TDP launches Statewide protests at petrol pumps

Why is govt. not reducing VAT, ask leaders

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) rank and file took to the streets to stage a protest against the steep rise in prices of petroleum products across the State on Tuesday.

The TDP activists held banners and placards and raised slogans, criticising the State Government for not reducing the petrol and diesel rates in Andhra Pradesh. The protesters kept sounding the horns of their two-wheelers to register their discontent over the high prices of fuel. The TDP leaders and workers, who staged a one-hour protest near petrol pumps, asserted that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was not taking any steps like his counterparts in other States to provide relief to the public from the rising prices of essential commodities. They demanded that the Chief Minister take steps to reduce VAT on petrol and diesel without trying to mislead the public in the State, and added that the State government was collecting ₹5 to ₹7 per litre in excess on petrol and diesel when compared to other States.