Massive outrage flared all over India as the sharpest hike in petrol prices took effect on Thursday.
Undoubtedly, the steep hike has hit the masses hard with the already ongoing depreciating value of rupee. Thousands of fuming commoners came on streets Wednesday midnight to protest and others expressed their plight on social networking sites.
As per the latest and steepest-ever raise, petrol prices have increased by 6.28 rupees per litre excluding local taxes from midnight, translating to a 11.5 percent or Rs 7.5 hike. The actual hike in prices will differ from state to state depending on their sales tax or VAT.
Soon after the announcement, mammoth number of tweets and comments started pouring in on social media sites. People waiting in the huge queues at the petrol pumps till midnight, tweeted live reactions of the common man over the issue.
In addition, an online petition started circulating on the web today, requesting Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas to analyze the whole issue from the eyes of the common man and roll back the unreasonable price hike.
Some are calling it a "rape economy" with the rupee value falling down and petrol prices going up, fervently alleging it to be "Aam Aadmi's suicide." On the other hand people have strongly slammed the UPA government for the petrol price rise, especially with the government's third anniversary nearing.
Here are some hilarious yet satirical tweets expressing the effect of the drastic hike on the general public.
The best one comes from Bollywood's superstar Amitabh Bachchan, who tweeted this morning: "Petrol up Rs 7.5 : Pump attendent - 'Kitne ka daloon ?' ! Mumbaikar - '2-4 rupye ka car ke upar spray kar de bhai, jalana hai !!'"
Another tweet doing the rounds on the micro-blogging site: "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari Knew About The #Petrol Price Hike."
A user Swaroop Kankipati wrote, "It looks like a tight race between the #dollar and the price of #petrol to see who can reach 100 first."
"No salary hike but hike in #petrol price...what a gift!," tweeted Vinayak Hodage.
"Finally, its gonna be a dream come true: All gals dream man will come on a white horse, All thanks to the petrol price hike #petrol," joked Taru Agarwal.
Another user Rahul Dutta wrote, "Solution for fuel price hike: Put a couple of viagra pills in your petroltank. Atleast you fuel indicator will stay up. #Petrol."
"Like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's weight...#Petrol price too is increasingly continuously! Some1 plz stop dem," a user tweeted.
"Thank you UPA 2 for increase in #petrol price. Now I can fulfill my life long dream of officially retiring in the mountains," wrote an "Aam Aadmi" with a pinch of sarcasm.
Another user, who recognized herself as an "Angry Bombay Girl" joked, "Due to Petrol Price hike Poonam Pandey has stopped all Her Free Home Delivery schemes."
A Facebook user wrote, "#make a note: this year when ur 'finance minister' say GDP will rise... He mean,, Gas, Diesel and Petrol !"
Another one briskly commented, "Looking for a gift for my birthday next week… please gift me PETROL!!"
While, actress Shilpa Shetty's husband Raj Kundra tweeted, #petrolhike yikes! Petrol chodo drink Johnnie Walker and keep walking!"
Another one wrote in a similar tone, "petrol price hike again...dat too 7.50! :O wats next....bicycle era??? "
"Anyone Selling a Horse... Need one urgently... Petrol gone up by 7.50 per Litre. Car back in the stable. Feeding a Horse will work out cheaper as I still want Horse Power," tweeted a user.
"Due to the hike in #petrol price it really seems as if to buy petrol u need to give gold in return after few years," said a Twitter user.
"What you pay for a ltr of petrol is actually the price for 100 ltr.1% is filled in your scooter while 99% goes into R.G's chopper. #petrol," Shekhar Verma wrote.
Well-known Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen also expressed her reaction in a lighter vein. She wrote: "I do not care about #petrol price, it is not because I do not have a car, it is because I have a driver. He steals petrol."
A user Nitin Kapoor tweeted, "Mamata didi if you can help with the rollback of #petrol price hike I will forgive you for your CNN-IBN interview blunder."
Another user, Guru Singh, vehemently wrote on Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs account, who himself is an active Twitter user.
"@PMOIndia sir waise aap roj ik tweet karte hai,jab se #Petrol ka pricebadaya hai koi bhi tweet nahi, kya apka twitter #Petrol se chalta hai," he wrote.
A user Siddhartha Varma wrote, "Anyone wants to exchange a Hyundai Verna Fluidic petrol, for a Tata Nano Diesel? #Petrol price hike."
While another user Naveen Kumar Meena wrote, "What did UPA goverment think before #petrol price hike ?? "Aaj kuch toofani karte hai (a popular tagline of cold drink advertisement)"
"One Satyamev Jayate episode should feature Petrol Price rise.. #smj#Petrol," wrote Kr. Ashish on Twitter.
T S Sudhir wrote, "AP gets Rs 2 crore more for every rupee hiked in price of #petrol, acc to DC. Ministers must b calculating hw many new SUVs they can buy now."
Leave your comments below about how the hike will affect you... an "Aam Admi," in the coming months.
