Congress protests in Delhi against rail fare hike

New Delhi, June 21 (IANS) Congress workers, led by the chief of the party’s Delhi unit Arvinder Singh Lovely, Saturday protested here against the Modi government’s decision to hike rail fares.

The protesters gathered in west Delhi’s Janakpuri area and raised slogans against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“They promised to curb inflation but ever since they have come to power, everything has become more expensive,” Lovely said.

“They asked for votes on the promise of bringing down prices. But now that they are in power, they have failed to prove themselves. Is this why people voted for them,” he said.

Police had to use water cannons to disperse the crowd as it tried to break the barricades.

The protest that lasted for a couple of hours resulted in traffic jams on many arterial roads in and around the area.

Lovely warned that the agitation would continue in the days to come.

“We are not going to stop and will continue protesting till this government rolls back the hike,” he said, adding the party will launch a “rail roko” agitation.

The central government Friday raised the railway passenger fares by 14.2 percent in all classes and freight charges by 6.5 percent. The new passenger fares and freight rates will come into effect from June 25.

The Indian Youth Congress (IYC) also organised a demonstration against the rail fare hike and held a protest march from Raisina Road to the Rail Bhavan here.

Targeting the BJP slogans during the Lok Sabha election campaign, the party workers shouted slogans: “acchhe din aa gaye – bijali pani kha gaye (Good days have come and they have taken away electricity and water).”

IYC general secretary Harshvardhan Shyam said: “A hike in rail fares by the central government was very unfortunate and it will break the back of the common people of the country.”

He said that Modi has cheated the common man by promising better days during his tenure.

At the Rail Bhavan, the CPI(M) also staged a protest against the Modi government’s decision to hike rail fares.