Chennai: With the prices of fuel skyrocketing across the country, a couple from Cuddalore got a unique gift - petrol, on their wedding on Sunday. Given the price of petrol, which has touched Rs 85.15 per litre in Tamil Nadu, and with no apparent indications that the price would be rolled back, the ‘gift appeared to be pricey. A beaming Elanchezhian with his astonished just-wedded wife Kanimozhi, received a can of petrol.
The guest, Prabhu, a student of Nandanam Arts College here and also a member of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) who had gifted the newlyweds a can of five-litre petrol, reportedly told the media that this was an effort to create awareness on the rising prices of fuel across the country.
“Fuel prices are rising steeply across the country. So, some of Elanchezhian’s friends and I, decided to gift the couple petrol and alert people about the valuable product,” he said.
Elanchezhian and Kanimozhi got married on Sunday morning at Kumaratchi in Cuddalore district. And just as the newly wedded couple greeted guests at a marriage hall, the groom’s friends stepped on the stage and without fanfare gave him the petrol in a five litre can as a gift. Amid laughter all around, the man received it, a 39-second video clip telecast by a Tamil news channel showed.
Fuel prices have been steadily rising across the country, especially in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai, mostly due to rising global crude oil prices, nearing $80 a barrel, and a weak rupee.
Congress leader and former Union Minister P. Chidambaram took a dig at the BJP government’s claim of looking at ways to arrest the hike in fuel prices, tweeting, “Government says will not cut fuel prices. BJP president says ‘Centre will soon arrest fuel prices’. BJP must have found a crude oil source that will supply crude oil free!”
