Thiruvananthapuram,  Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday protested against the rising fuel prices by pulling an auto rickshaw with a rope here.

Tharoor took to the streets in his constituency and led hundreds of auto rickshaw drivers. He symbolically pulled a three-wheeler with a rope to express protest against the soaring petrol and diesel prices.

Tharoor, while addressing the drivers, said: "Where the burden of fuel tax is proving unsustainable for the aam aadmi. It's unconscionable that Indians pay 260 per cent tax on their fuel while Americans, for instance, pay 20 per cent. Fuel taxes affect all other prices.

Later he tweeted, "Symbolically pulled an auto-rickshaw in Thiruvananthapuram to protest extortionate fuel taxes & the failure of both Central & State governments to reduce their share of the loot. Over a hundred autos joined the protest under the auspices of INTUC..."