STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: Protesting what it described as the government's failure to control the continued rise in petrol and diesel prices in the state, the All Kamrup (Metro) District Students' Union, a unit of the All Assam Students Union (AASU) organised an effigy-burning programme of Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri at Uzan Bazar in Guwahati on Monday.
The protest, organised by the district unit of the students' body, saw demonstrators carrying symbolic petrol pump models and placards while expressing strong resentment against what they termed government inaction over rising fuel prices.
The protesters demanded immediate measures to curb the escalating prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas and sought relief for the public from the growing financial burden.
The key demands raised during the protest included immediate control over the continued increase in the prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas, and urgent intervention by the government to reduce the economic burden on common people.
Speaking to the media, All Kamrup (Metro) District Students' Union president Bipjyoti Malakar and general secretary Samiran Kalita alleged that flawed government policies and the lack of market regulation had placed ordinary people under severe hardship.
They warned that if the government failed to take prompt steps to address the issue of rising fuel prices, the students' union would be compelled to launch a more intensified agitation in the coming days.
Several members of the central committee of the All Assam Students' Union, including executive members Rupam Kumar Das, Alakesh Nath and Jiten Das, along with office-bearers of the district and Guwahati students' units and hundreds of students, took part in the programme.
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