KATHMANDU, Oct 18 – The main opposition CPN-UML, the grouping of nine left parties and consumer forums today came down heavily on the government’s recent decision to hike the prices of petro-products.
Activists of CPN-UML and its sister organizations went on to burn an effigy of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala in downtown Ratna Park later today to protest the price hike, while the grouping of nine left parties and Consumer Forum Nepal announced series of protest programmes aimed at pressurising the government to rollback its decision.
A meeting of nine left parties held here today decided to call Nepal Bandha for two days – on November 16 and 17, besides planning to burn the effigy of PM Koirala at Ratna Park tomorrow, according to a joint press release issued here today.
The series of protest programmes announced by the grouping of nine left parties also include, staging a traffic jam in Bhotahity-Ratna Park area on October 20, among others. While the Lalitpur District Committee of CPN-UML today said in a press release that it would stage a protest rally in Lalitpur tomorrow.
“Government decision of rationing of three litres of kerosene per month to each family is making fun of the consumers,” Nepal Consumer Forum President Harendra Bahadur Shrestha said at a press conference held here today. “The decision needs to be reviewed for good.”
The consumer forum members also alleged that the government deceived the general public by increasing the petro-product twice in a span of a year, despite its commitment to the contrary last September. The government on October 13 decided to hike the prices of petro-products, barely a year after it reviewed the prices of the essential fuel products.