On the call of UP Congress president Raj Babbar, Congress Legislature Party leader Ajay Kumar ‘Lallu’ on Wednesday led a demonstration in front of Vidhan Bhawan in protest against the hike in VAT on diesel and petrol ordered by the state government.
The Congressmen staged a massive protest before the administration arrested them.
It may be mentioned that since the drubbing in the last parliamentary elections, Babbar has kept away from agitations organised on the direction of party general secretary, incharge UP East, Priyanka Vadra Gandhi, to expose the state and Central governments, failures on various issues.
Giving details of Wednesday’s statewide protests, UPCC spokesman Mukesh Chauhan said the party leaders not only staged demonstrations but also pulled cycle rickshaws to show their opposition to the hike in VAT on petrol and diesel by the Yogi Adityanath government.
In Lucknow, CLP leader Ajay Kumar `Lallu’ and other leaders pulled cycle rickshaws from Charbagh to Vidhan Bhawan.
On Tuesday, a similar protest was held in Barabanki where the Congress leaders took out a procession of bullock carts.
Talking to media persons before his arrest in front of Vidhan Bhawan, Ajay Kumar ‘Lallu’ said the people of the state were already reeling under deteriorating law and order and other issues but the BJP government was not interested in solving public issues and was only giving importance to ministry expansion and hike in VAT on petrol and diesel.
The CLP leader said that the country was witnessing slowdown that had hit auto and textile sectors hard and lakhs of people were on the verge of losing their jobs.
“In such a scenario, by hiking petrol and diesel prices the government has further increased the hardships of the people to fill government coffers,” Ajay Kumar Lallu said.
Those arrested during the demonstration included the CLP leader, former MLA Akhilesh Pratap Singh, Virendra Madan, Vinod Mishra, Amarnath Agarwal and Mukesh Chauhan.
Similar protests were held in all the 75 districts of the state including Sitapur, Kanpur, Faizabad, Balrampur and Basti.
A report from Gorakhpur said Congress workers took out a protest march from Golghar to town hall.
