Vijayakanth to fast Thursday against price hikes

CHENNAI: Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu assembly and DMDK chief A. Vijayakanth will hold a fast between 8 a.m and 5 p.m Thursday to demand a

rollback of the steep price hikes in bus fares and milk imposed by the

AIADMK government.In a statement issued here, the

actor-turned-politician said: "The AIADMK government unexpectedly

steeply hiked the milk prices and bus fares, shocking the poor and the

middle class. Their cost of living has nearly doubled because of the

hikes."Referring to Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa's argument

that the hike was necessitated to safeguard the state government

undertakings, Vijayakanth said: "Like the concern for restructuring the

government undertakings, the chief minister too should take into account

the plight of poor and the middle class who are not able to balance

their family budget."Demanding a change of heart on the part of

the government in respect of price hike, Vijayakanth said he would go on

fast at the DMDK headquarters while at the districts, party officials

would hold fast outside the collectorates.On November 17,

Jayalalithaa announced the decision of her government to increase the

milk prices, bus fares and the proposal to revise upwards the power

tariff as well.The minimum bus fares have been increased by a

rupee to Rs.3 and the maximum by Rs.5 to Rs.12 across the state other

than Chennai. In the state capital, the maximum bus fare has gone up by

Rs.2 to Rs.14.The price of milk has gone up by Rs.6.25 per litre

to Rs.24. The milk procurement prices have also been increased by Rs.2

per litre.