The country is rocked with the diesel price hike announced by the Petroleum Ministry early today. The hike which is as high as Rs 5 in certain places is too much. Many political parties have blamed the government for the hike. And our own Telugu Desam Party is close on the heels to slam the ruling government over the hike. The local TDP activists in the state capital held protests across the state over the hike. They also condemned the government for increasing the domestic LPG cylinder cost to Rs 786/- from the seventh cylinder.

Some of the protestors also organized camps which cooked food on wood logs fueled stoves. This was also a way of protest by the cadre.

The party President N Chandrababu Naidu headed a rally protesting against the hike. He started the rally at the NTR trust bhavan and ended it at the Jubilee hill check post. He was also participating in the rally along with party cadres. Speaking on the occasion the supremo said that with the hike the common man who uses the public transport will be affected. He also quoted that the farmers will be the ones most affected. With the hike an additional burden of nearly Rs 1,500 Cr is inevitable on the farmer. As per the estimates, he also quoted that the industry which use LPG as fuel will have to incur another 700 Cr in total loss. The APSRTC will face another cash crunch of Rs 350 Cr due to the hike clarified the leader.

Close on the heels of the diesel hike by the Central Government, the state's major bus operator APSRTC might follow in lieu. (With inputs from internet-AW AarKay)