Congress calls for 'Bharat Bandh' on 10 September over rising fuel prices, urges other parties to join protest

New Delhi: The Congress will organise a nationwide shutdown on 10 September over rising fuel prices, party leaders announced Thursday and asked other Opposition parties and civil society groups to join their protest against the government. The common man was bearing the brunt of the escalating prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas, Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala said. “The Congress party has decided that we will be giving a call for Bharat Bandh on 10 September, Monday, in order to highlight the Rs 11 lakh crore fuel loot and to demand an immediate reduction in central excise duty as also excessive VAT in the state,” he told reporters. Surjewala said the Congress will also demand that petrol and diesel be brought within the ambit of the GST so that the “common man whose budget has gone haywire is provided the requisite relief”. The Congress has also urged Opposition parties to join the protest, he said. “We also call upon other societal groups, NGOs… to join this people’s movement,” he said.