Oppn attacks UPA on petrol price rise

Chief Ministers of two non-Congress ruled states ridiculed the Congress-led UPA government's 'Aam Aadmi' slogan and said the petrol price rise has exposed the anti-poor face of the Congress party which claims to be the votary of common man.

"Their's is a mismanagement of a different kind. International crude prices are not going up in the manner in which our (fuel) prices here are going up," BJP leader L K Advani told reporters in Pune.

Noting that petrol price rise was a major factor responsible for fuelling prices of essential commodities, the Left parties asked all their state units to launch nationwide protests.
"The hoax of the pricing according to the market has been exposed as international oil prices have fallen considerably in the recent period," CPI(M) Politburo said in a statement, adding the Congress-led coalition has once again displayed its "shocking callousness" at the plight of the people.

CPI-M leader Nilotpal Basu said the Government was "totally insensitive" to the miseries of the people.

The CPI Secretariat also condemned the petrol price hike, terming it as "unjustified" and said the prices of essential commodities were already high.

Strongly opposing the hike, CPI general secretary A B Bardhan said, "It is yet another live example of anti-people policy pursued by the UPA government."

CPI leader D Raja said the hike was a big blow to "aam aadmi" at a time when food inflation had reached double digit.

The Left parties as well as CPI(M)-affiliate CITU called upon their units to go for protest actions on the issue tomorrow to demand roll back, reverting the decision to de-control fuel prices and banning forward trading in all essential commodities.

The CITU welcomed the decision of trade unions in Kerala's transport sector to go on strike tomorrow to protest the rise in petrol prices.

Ridiculing the Congress-led UPA government's 'Aam Aadmi' slogan," Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the latest petrol price hike had truly over burdened the common people.

The youth wing of the ruling BJD in Orissa staged a protest near the Raj Bhavan in Bhubaneshwar after taking out a motorcycle rally. Almost all non-Congress parties came out on the streets opposing the petrol price hike.

In Chandigarh, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said, "The hike would unleash fresh inflationary trends, further jack up prices of all essential commodities and break the back of the common man."

The Akali Dal leader said the hefty hike in the prices of petrol has exposed the anti-poor face of the Congress party which claims to be the votary of common man (Aam Adami).

Dubbing the UPA-II as "anti-poor", Samajwadi Party demanded roll back of the petrol price in the interest of the common people who voted the Congress led coalition to power.

Seeking to provide some relief to people hit by the petrol price hike, the Congress-led UDF government in Kerala decided to forego the additional tax accruing to the state exchequer from the latest increase.

The measure, announced by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in the Kerala Assembly, will reduce the petrol price in the state by 37 paise per litre from the hike of Rs 1.82.

Karnataka Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda told reporters in Bangalore that he would write to the Centre urging it to roll back the hike.