Harish Rawat rides bullock cart to protest petrol, diesel price hike

Former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat on Monday rode a bullock cart here to protest against fuel price hike across the country and performed puja' at a Shiva temple praying for "good sense" to dawn upon the central government.

Resorting to a unique way of protest, he rode the bullock cart waiting near the Ordnance Factory gate in Raipur area along with his supporters wearing masks and following social distancing norms.

Speaking from the bullock cart as it drove to the Shiva temple, Rawat said at a time when crude oil prices had come down everywhere in the world, the central government had increased the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG more than a dozen times hitting badly the transport system, farming and the auto industry.

"Skyrocketing fuel prices have caused a rise in the prices of essential commodities too which has come as a double blow for the economy already battered by the coronavirus crisis," he said.

After arriving at the temple, the AICC general secretary said he came to pray for "good sense" to dawn upon the central government.

He said he had also prayed for early deliverance to the people of the state and the country from coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Congress workers staged dharnas and protests against fuel price hike all over the state at the call of PCC president Pritam Singh, shouting slogans against the Modi government.

Leading a dharna at the state Congress office here, Singh said in the last six years (from 2014 to 2020), the Modi government had looted Rs 80 lakh crore of people's hard earned money and broken the back of common people battling coronavirus.

The Congress will not tolerate this loot anymore and launch an agitation against the price rise, he said.