Govt comes under fire for petrol price hike

The government came under verbal fusillade from allies as well as Opposition parties over the increase in petrol prices.

The BJP and the Left announced nationwide protests against the "cruel blow" to the salaried class. Even allies such as the DMK, the Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) were pushed to demand a rollback in the hike.

Predictably, the sharpest reaction came from Trinamool boss Mamata Banerjee.

She slammed the decision as "unjust, unilateral and unacceptable". Surprisingly, however, the she did not threaten to withdraw support this time.

"The Trinamool will not topple the government like the CPM as it might trigger economic and political instability," Mamata said. "But that does not mean we will not oppose the decision." SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav had shared the high table with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's dinner on UPA's anniversary on Tuesday. But his party, too, was critical of the hike. Party spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhury said: "The government has given this gift to the common man on the completion of its three years' rule." The DMK, too, came out against the hike and demanded a rollback.

The BJP, which is holding its two- day national executive in Mumbai, got a readymade agenda to train their guns on the government. "The gross mismanagement of food and general economy by the UPA regime has led to the decline in the rupee. This has led to the rise in prices of petroleum products," party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said, adding that the UPA was punishing the common man for its own wrongdoings.

CPM leader Sitaram Yechury termed the hike a criminal additional burden on the people while CPI's D. Raja accused the government of being insensitive to the sufferings of the people. Both the BJP and the Left have declared that they will launch protests against the hike.

The Congress was at pains to justify the decision. Party leaders took the line that oil companies were independent to take a decision as petrol prices had been deregulated.

At the same time, party spokesperson Rashid Alvi said, "It is a very difficult decision".

Courtesy: Mail Today