Cuttack/Bhubaneswar: Vehicular traffic came to a grinding halt in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar on Monday morning following a 6-hour ‘Chakka Jam’ call given by the Congress against the petrol and diesel price hike.
Thousands of buses and trucks were stranded on both sides of the National Highway due to the Chakka Jam call.
The Chakka Jam which began at 6 am will continue till 12 pm.
In Cuttack, the Congress activists were seen picketing in Madhupatna, Press Chhak, Jagatpur, Sikharpur and Badambadi areas and requesting people not to ply their vehicle as a mark of protest.
The Congress activists also urged the state government to slash the 26 percent VAT to bring down the price of the fuel.
Stating that the marginal reduction in the fuel price by the Centre is a farce, they said the latter has deliberately hiked the fuel price since the Assembly elections in Karnataka.
In Bhubaneswar, the Congress activists picketed on National Highway at Vani Vihar and Rasulgarh by burning tyres on the road.
Vehicular traffic between Bhubaneswar and Puri was also disrupted as the Congress activists blocked the National Highway at Uttara Chhak on the outskirts of the city.
To deal with any untoward situation, Commissionerate Police have made elaborate security arrangements with deployment of 25 platoons of armed police force in the twin cities.
Asked about the impact of the Chakka Jam call given by his party, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik said “We are bothered about the impact. As a political party, it is our moral responsibility to make the people aware of their inconvenience due to the exorbitant hike in the prices of the fuel.”
Patnaik said the Centre has favoured some leading businessmen who are being benefited by the fuel price hike. “The Centre can provide relief to the common people by reducing the Excise duty and GST on fuel. Besides, the state government can also provide some relief to the people by bringing down the VAT on the fuel,” he pointed out.
Reacting to the statement of the PCC president, BJP spokesperson Golakh Mohapatra said the state government would have decided to cut down the VAT on fuel had the Congress put pressure on it. “Instead of putting pressure on the state government, the Congress has given the Chakka Jam call which shows that the party has a tacit understanding with the state government,” he alleged.
