Jamshedpur, Nov 25 (PTI) Opposition BJP held a signature campaign in all petrol pumps across Jharkhand on Thursday to mount pressure on the Hemant Soren government to reduce VAT on petrol and diesel.

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The Centre has decreased excise duty in the prices of petrol and diesel but the Soren government has not tajen any intiative in this regard, the BJP leaders said.

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The campaign was held in over 1000 petrol pumps in the state, they said.

The party's state unit spokesman Kunal Sarangi said "BJP is left with no option but to launch the signature campaign across Jharkhand as the Hemant Soren-led coalition government is not heeding our demand to slash VAT to further reduce the prices of petrol and diesel".

He claimed that the signature campaign has been a grand success in Jharkhand and blamed the ruling ally Congress for taking a rigid stand on the issue.

The non-BJP ruled states, particularly where Congress is a coalition partner, did not reduce their taxes to provide relief to the people in respect of fuel prices, he said.

Gunjan Yadav, the saffron party leader here, said 13 BJP-ruled states and union territories have followed the union government and reduced their share of value added tax (VAT), which further reduced the prices of petrol and diesel.

Hitting out at the Soren government, Yadav said the ruling JMM-Congress alliance had raised a hue and cry over increasing prices of petrol and diesel but has become reticent now about decreasing VAT.

The objective behind the four-hour-long signature campaign was to make people aware about the intention of the JMM-led government in the state, which had raised its voice over increasing prices of petroleum products but kept quiet when their turn came to decrease VAT so that fuel prices could come down further, he said.

The BJP leader claimed that people's anger against the Jharkhand government for its negligent approach was visible during the campaign, which had found good response in the steel city.

Alleging that the ruling coalition in the state is "inefficient" when it came to taking a decision on fuel prices in the state and the government's approach showed that it is not bothered about people oriented issues and their hue and cry is only a "political gimmick".

Yadav said Jharkhand government has levied 22 per cent VAT and Re 1 as cess and collects Rs17 on per litre of petrol and Rs.12.50 on per litre of diesel and Congress is "keeping mum" about it.

BJP will hold a phase-wise agitational program if the Soren government fails to reduce VAT soon, he said.

The signature campaign was also observed in Pakur district.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)