BHUBANESWAR: Left parties on Thursday observed a six-hour Odisha bandh against the steep rise in prices of fuel and other essential commodities.
Even though the bandh evoked a mixed response, major business establishments remained closed in the State Capital at a time when partial lockdown between 2 pm and 6 am is in force in 10 districts. The petrol pumps too remained closed in the city from 6 am to 12 pm.
In the Capital, the protestors demonstrated at the railway station and demanded to rollback the fuel price hikes. They also demonstrated at Station Square and blocked the road towards Ram Mandir Square and took out protest rallies in areas including Rajmahal Square.
Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation, All India Forward Bloc, organizations like All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Bharatiya Khet Mazdoor Union (BKMU), and others were part of the bandh.
"The prices of fuel have skyrocketed in the last couple of months and this has also led to a steep hike in costs of other essential commodities. The Centre says the prices are being fixed by the oil companies, however, whenever there are elections in states, the hike in costs of petrol and diesel are being immediately regulated," said CPI's national executive committee member Ram Krushna Panda.
The CPI claimed that when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power, the cost of per barrel crude oil was over 100 USD but per litre petrol's price back then was around Rs 77.
"Per barrel crude oil's current price is USD 77 but one-litre petrol costs over Rs 100 now because of various cess levied by the Centre after 2014. This is not only affecting two-wheeler and four-wheeler owners but it has triggered an adverse impact on road transportation which has led to rising in prices of essential commodities too," said Panda.
The protestors said the increase in fuel cost will lead to a hike in bus fares, an increase in the prices of chemical fertilizers and agriculture input costs, among others.
During the bandh, no major untoward incident was reported in Odisha. Protests were also carried out in other places - Cuttack, Berhampur, among others.
Meanwhile, the per litre petrol price stood at Rs 102.42 and per litre diesel was sold for Rs 98.01 in Bhubaneswar on Thursday. The experts have attributed the steep rise in fuel prices to an increase in excise duty by the Centre and value-added tax by the State Government.