Mamata Banerjee pillion rides on electric scooter for protesting fuel price hike

West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Thursday decided to be pillion rider on an electric scooter driven by her cabinet colleague Firhad Hakim, in order to reach her office, the state administrative headquarters Nabanna. This was her way of protesting the hike of petrol and diesel prices.

Banerjee and Hakim wore posters to protest the hike of petrol, diesel and cooking gas prices that have seen astounding rise over the past few months. The Bengal government has offered a Re 1 reduction in the cess imposed, a move to indicate that while the state was going as much as possible, the Centre did nothing no reduce the price that is affecting the lives of ordinary people.

Banerjee left her house on Harish Chatterjee Street in Kalighat area and went to the Nabanna office in about 20 minutes. Interestingly, JP Nadda, the BJP’s national president, was launching some LED raths from Kolkata’s Hastings office around the same time, and Banerjee was seen in an electric scooter on the flyover as the BJP’s raths were rolling out along the road below.

“Charity begins at home. Our party is organising protests, and I join the protest too,” she said outside Nabanna. She said she would take the same vehicle to return home. “It is affecting the poor and the BJP-led government is making lives difficult for the ordinary people,” she said.