VELLORE: AIADMK party members on Tuesday protested against the recent hike in petrol prices in various places in the fort city. Vehicles were decorated like a dead person, whose funeral procession was being taken out, with the partymen mourning.
Vellore Mayor P Karthiyayini, Deputy Mayor Dharmalingam, district presidium chairman Markabandhu, former secretaries of the district Neelakandan and Moorthy and ward members participated. In a similar protest in Tiruppattur held by Vellore west AIADMK members MLAs K C Veeramani, Ramesh and Sampath Kumar, participated.
Panic Buying Drying Up Vellore Petrol Bunks
Fear of further rise in petrol prices resulting in panic buying, along with 30 per cent shortage in supply of fuel to the petroleum dealers last month, have led to the petrol bunks in the Vellore district drying up, the Vellore District Petroleum Dealers’ Association’s President, Arunodhayam said.
On Monday, while some bunks claimed shortage of supply, many stopped supply altogether. Several road blockades, protests and agitations took place in many parts of the district such as Vaniyambadi and Ranipet.
Reduce VAT on Petrol: Janata Party to CM
The Janata Party has appealed to Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to reduce the VAT on petrol prices by `2 per litre to relieve the motorists of the steep hike by the Central Government.
State General Secretary of the party, A Varadarajan, said the share of Tamil Nadu in the sale of one litre of petrol was `22 out of the selling price of `78.
The Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum has also opposed the steep rise in the petrol prices. Honorary Secretary of the forum, P S Subrahmanian said the prices were raised on three occasions.