MNS activists serve black tea to protest fuel price hike

Women activists of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena on Friday served black tea made on chullha (earthen stove) fire to protest the price hike in LPG cylinder and diesel effected by the government.

The demonstration was staged at the Alka Talkies Square in Pune where the women lit the earthen stove fire using wood and kerosene and offered the tea without milk to the bystanders, even as party workers raised anti-government slogans denouncing the fuel price hike.

A spokesman of MNS said the protest was staged to express hardships being faced by the common man and women who bear the brunt of increased cost of cooking gas cylinder while managing kitchen.

The BJP and Shiv Sena activists also staged demonstrations in various parts of the city on the issue.

Shiv Sena spokesperson and MLC Neelam Gorhe condemned the hike saying life of common people was going to be difficult with restriction of six cylinders at controlled prices.

The government had on Thursday hiked diesel prices by a steep Rs 5.62 per litre and restricted the supply of subsidised cooking gas to 6 cylinders per household in a year.