Pics: Brijesh Garodi
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (DV)

Mangalore, Jun 23: The Mangalore North block Congress on Monday June 23 rose in protest against the Narendra Modi-led NDA government for hiking the raiway passenger fares by 14.2 percent and freight charges by 6.5 percent.

The local Congress leaders staged a protest meet in front of the Central railway station at Attavar and then jumped on to the tracks, holding a dharna on the spot. They climbed the Mangalore-Bhatkal train and shouted slogans for about 10 to 15 minutes to symbolically mark the protest.

Addressing the protest meet, Congress leader Suresh Ballal said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi was earlier saying that good days will come with BJP in power, but now we have only bad days coming. They (NDA government) have hiked the rail fare across the board. It is Modi government's gift to the people within 20 days of coming to power."

"People are suffering because of the price hike. But even as people are suffering, the government is planning to buy a chartered flight for Modi at a cost of Rs 100 crore. The suffering of the people will only increase in the coming days," he added.

"Union railway minister Sadananda Gowda is telling lies that the UPA government is to blame for the increase in price. We demand an immediate rollback of the hike," he added.

G A Bava said, "The NDA government is putting the blame on the erstwhile UPA government for increase in the railway fares. They are trying to bring a bad name to the Congress and spoiling its image by doing so. We have seen the corrupt regime of the BJP government in the state under Yeddyurappa. People were fed up with that.

"Totally, there has been 16 percent hike in the railway fares. This is a big burden on the people," he added.

"Union railway minister Sadananda Gowda is talking of high-end luxury trains, but common people do not want all that. The increase in rail fares has been enforced considering only the rich and not the poor," he said.

Further lashing out at the NDA government, he said, "Though they talk of women's security, cases of sexual harassment and rapes have been reported in various places, and the government has failed to take any action. Also, they are trying to impose Hindi on the people, disragarding the fact that in South India people speak various languages."

The protestors got down from the train and ended their protest after railway police and Bunder police arrived at the spot and intervened. 

Congress North Block president Vishwas Kumar Das, T K Sudhir, Balakrishna Shetty, Shashiraj, corporator Lancelot Pinto, Jacintha Alfred, Nagaveni, Prakash Salian, Radhakrishna, Shailaja, former corporator Nagendra were among the protestors.