Soma Mookherjee
KOLKATA, 7 MAY: Trinamul Congress Rajya Sabha MP and party’s national spokesperson Sukhendu Shekhar Roy today asked the Union home minister should go to Prayagraj and Lalitpur instead of visiting states ruled by the Oppositions.
“In the heart-wrenching incident at Prayagraj, where five people were murdered, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has finally filed a case and asked the state police and the Uttar Pradesh administration to submit an action-taken report on the matter.
The Uttar Pradesh Police earlier hadn’t even paid heed to the request of the victim’s family members to register a case. It was only after AITC sent a fact-finding committee that things started to move.
Earlier, the UP Police had tried to subdue the autopsy report too, Mr Roy alleged. However, they have now admitted that gang rape happened with female members before they were murdered. If it weren’t for AITC, the gangrape charge would have been buried by UP Police and their government.
This is not something new in Adityanath’s Raj. Ghastly murders keep happening in Uttar
Pradesh and the media remain silent. This is the Parampara (tradition) of the BJP. Ironically, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah remains quiet on these topics but is always ready to speak on anything happening in Opposition-ruled states.
” We sincerely ask the Union Home Minister and Uttar Pradesh Police to take necessary action,” Mr Roy said.
“Another major issue that has been bothering the entire country is the excessive rise in fuel and cooking fuel and cooking gas prices, the Rajya Sabha MP said.
This morning, the price of cooking gas was hiked by Rs 50. Now consumers will have to churn out more money, as a domestic 14.2 kg LPG cylinder which costs more than Rs 1,000 in Kolkata.
“If one family uses two cylinders a month, then he will have to pay Rs 2000 only for two cylinders of LPG gas per month,” said Mr Roy.
LPG price was last hiked by Rs 50 on 22 March, which means that in 45 days, the cost of LPG cylinder has increased by Rs 100. With six hikes in the past year, domestic LPG prices have jumped by nearly Rs 200 in the 12 months, he alleged.”
“It’s not only domestic consumers that are facing the pinch, the price of commercial LPG cylinders has also been raised by Rs 102 taking the price of the 19kg cylinder to Rs
2,355.50. This will have a cascading effect on everyday life.
“Price rise is not limited just to LPG gas, for all essential commodities prices are being hiked almost on daily basis.” he added
Petrol price in Kolkata currently stands at Rs 115.12. It was Rs 91.41 in May 2021, “which means we have seen an increase of more than Rs 24 in just over a year,” he added.
Diesel price, too, which was Rs 65.62 in May 2020, now costs Rs 99.83 (almost Rs 100).
Trucks and buses run on diesel, and the price rise will, subsequently, affect normal customers too, Mr Roy explained.
Modi government has also increased the price of essential medicines, something that we use for mild fever. Paracetamol, which costed Rs 18 in March 2019, now costs almost double at Rs 35.5. We ask the Central Government to reduce price of essential commodities immediately.
The Central government is yet to clear over Rs 97,000 crore worth of dues of the State.
Trinamul Congress has always maintained that if the Centre clears all the dues of the state, the West Bengal government will substantially reduce the price of petrol and diesel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks about cooperative federalism, but in reality, he is killing the States by depriving them of funds.
RBI has also increased the repo rate, which means that EMIs on homes, vehicles and other personal and corporate loans will also rise. The Modi government has kicked another blow to the stomach of the middle class and the poor people.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has repeatedly called for an all-party meeting by the central government to discuss the price rise issue, but the Centre doesn’t seem to be bothered about it at all.
Mamata Banerjee, during a recent press conference, had just one question for the Modi government. She said that the Centre takes over 75% of taxes on fuel, and still wants States to reduce their share of 25% taxes? How will state governments run in such a manner,” he asked.
Mr Roy also said the fire of inflation is burning India. RBI had predicted 5.7% retail inflation in the fourth quarter of 2021-22 and 4.9% in the quarter of 2022-23. These predictions will be off the target by a large margin as retail inflation has already crossed the 6% mark in February and is continuously rising.
Retail inflation is expected to touch the high of 7.4% soon. Wholesale inflation, too, stands at 14.55%, nearing as bad as the 1991 economic crisis.
“The rich continue to get richer under PM Modi’s raj, while the poor keep getting poorer.
The World Inequality Report 2022 states that India is one of the most unequal countries in the world.
“There is no freedom of speech and expression in India. India stands at Rank 150 in Press Freedom Index, eight spots down from the 142 rank it had received last year, said Mr Roy.
AITC would like to state that it is time to reform the economic reforms, or else the benefit will never reach the common man.
Tags: #SukhenduSekharRoy #AmitShah #FuelPriceHike #Prayagraj