Hyderabad, June 25 (IANS) The hike in prices of diesel, cooking gas and kerosene evoked a strong reaction in Andhra Pradesh with opposition parties Saturday staging protests across the state and  demanding an immediate rollback.

 
 Activists of Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took to streets in Hyderabad and other cities and towns to  protest the fuel price hike.
 
 The opposition leaders condemned the UPA government's move and said this would add to the burden on the common man.
 
 Raising slogans and burning effigy of the government, the activists staged protests at several places in the state capital. "The hike is not acceptable. We want the government to immediately withdraw it," said CPI-M leader P. Madhu while leading a protest march in Hyderabad.
 
 The opposition parties took out rallies in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur, Tirupati, Nizamabad, Karimnagar and other towns. Women carrying empty cooking gas cylinders also joined the  protesters.
 
 TDP chief and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said the hike had dealt another blow to common man. He claimed that the government has increased the price of petroleum products for the 21st time in seven years.
 
 Naidu told reporters that the government could have avoided the hike by cutting down on the taxes. "Petroleum minister's defence of the hike and even hinting at more hikes in coming weeks is highly objectionable," he said.
 
 Quoting from the Rangarajan Committee's report, the TDP leader said the central government is earning 38 percent revenue from diesel. He pointed out that the diesel price in India is much higher than the price in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
 
 Naidu said the sales tax on petroleum products in Andhra Pradesh is highest in the country. The state has 33 percent tax on petrol and 22.5 percent on diesel.
 
 The TDP has called for protests against the price hike in front of the offices of district collectors on June 27.
 
 Veteran leader of ruling Congress party and former chief  minister K. Rosaiah also found fault with the price hike. He urged the  government to reconsider its decision.
 
 Rosaiah said people, irrespective of their political affiliation, are unhappy over the hike. He suggested that the state government absorb some of the hike.
 
 State Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy, however, turned down the demand, saying the state government is not in a position to provide any subsidy.