Slamming the BJP Government both at the Centre and State for rising fuel prices, leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday threatened that the party will call for a Statewide bandh if their demands were not fulfilled by October 30.
Talking to mediapersons here on Thursday, Soren also put four-point demands before the State Government, including release of white paper on the expenses so far made on organising grand prgorammes, foreign trips and over advertisements during the last 3 years.
Soren, terming the ruling BJP government in State as a “pick-pocket Government”, said that it has been collecting around Rs 2,500 crore every year from the common man of the State by charging 22 per cent tax on petrol and diesel, besides levying 1 per cent extra surcharge which was much more than its adjoining States — Odisha, Bihar, Chattisgarh and West Bengal.
“The Central Government has also collected more than RS 6 lakh crore from the common people during the last 3 years and gave it to the businessmen and industrialists, which is nothing but Constitutional pick-pocketing,” said Soren.
The leader of Opposition said that his party demands at least 50 per cent cut in taxes on petrol and diesel. “If the taxes over petrol and diesel are decreased by 50 per cent, it will bring the prices down by at least Rs 5-6 which will be a great relief to the people,” Soren said.
The former Chief Minister said that despite the fact that the prices of crude oil has been decreasing day by day, the taxes imposed on petrol and diesel was being increased regularly by the Centre.
Soren also alleged that the tax of Rs 2,500 crore collected by State Government through taxes over petrol and diesel was being spent on organising expensive programmes like ‘Momentum Jharkhand’ and on foreign trips by Chief Minister and with other bureaucrats, which has not paid any dividend so far.
“The JMM workers will stage dharna at all district headquarters with demands of immediate cut or 50 per cent over the taxes of petrol and diesel and will also call for Statewide bandh after October 30, if no action was taken in this regard by the State Government,” said the leader of Opposition.