Left - Arvind Kejriwal (Arvind Yadav/Hindustan Times via Getty Images), Right - Rahul Gandhi (Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)Backing off from the Bharat bandh called by the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said that it will not join the protests as the Congress lacked the moral authority to call for a strike on rise in petrol prices and rupee slow down reports News18.
"The issue is right, but then Congress has no moral authority to call for a protest against of fuel price hike and Indian rupee falling vis a vis US dollar. It is beyond imagination that the Congress has called for a Bharat Bandh," AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj reportedly said.
The Congress has been demanding that fuel be brought under the purview of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). It has also been alleging that fuel prices under the BJP government have been seeing an upward spiral, and it was hurting the common man beyond measure.
According to the Congress, 21 Opposition parties are taking part in the protest. Among them are Janata Dal (Secular), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Samajwadi Party (SP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Communist Party of India (CPM), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
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