BJP leaders submit memorandum against proposed fuel price hike in J&K

Jammu, Mar 11: J&K Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders led by Jammu East MLA Yudhvir Sethi and BJP All Cells Incharge Ved Sharma on Wednesday submitted a memorandum at the office of the Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, strongly protesting the proposed hike in petrol and diesel prices by the Omar Abdullah-led government in Jammu and Kashmir.

The memorandum was received by officials in the absence of the Divisional Commissioner.

The BJP delegation warned that the proposed increase of Rupee 1 per litre on petrol and Rs 2 per litre on diesel would impose an additional financial burden on the common people of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly at a time when the public was already grappling with rising costs of living.

Among those present during the submission of the memorandum included Ashu Mahajan, convenor BJP Transport Cell, along with Cell co-convenors Roshan and Kamalpreet. Senior BJP leaders Sham Langer, K L Sharma, Mukherjee Sharma, Balvinder Singh, and Karunesh Gupta were also present.

Speaking on the occasion, Yudhvir Sethi criticised the National Conference government for betraying the promises made to the people during the Assembly elections.

He said that the party had assured relief to the common man in its election manifesto, but instead of providing respite, the government was moving to impose additional taxes on fuel.

Sethi said that any increase in the prices of petrol and diesel would have a cascading effect on the entire economy, leading to a rise in transportation costs and eventually increasing the prices of essential commodities and daily-use items. He alleged that such anti-people decisions reflected the insensitivity of the government towards the hardships of the common citizens, traders, transporters and working-class families.

Ved Sharma also condemned the proposed price hike and said that the BJP strongly opposed the decision of the Omar Abdullah-led government. He alleged that such arbitrary decisions without considering their impact on the public reflected the failure of the government to protect the interests of the people.

Ved Sharma warned that the BJP would continue to raise its voice against policies that harm the common citizens and would not allow the government to impose unjustified financial burdens on the people of Jammu and Kashmir.