The UPA Government came under heavy attack from its allies as well as the Opposition on the latest hike in petrol prices. While the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief and West Bengal Chief Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, indicated that the hike may lead to withdrawal of support, the DMK joined the Opposition in demanding an immediate roll-back.
“My MPs, including Central Ministers, have decided to quit. I have told them to wait till the Prime Minister returns,” Ms Banerjee said in Kolkata on Friday. The Prime Minister is away in Cannes for the G-20 meet. The TMC has 19 MPs in the Lok Sabha and seven in the Rajya Sabha.
UPA's allies Nationalist Congress Party and National Conference also said they would raise the issue within the Government. “In the next Cabinet meeting, there will be a debate on it,” said National Conference President, Mr Farooq Abdullah, who is the Minister for New and Renewable Energy.
“Frequent increase in petroleum products is not fair…,” DMK Parliamentary Party leader in the Lok Sabha, Mr T. R. Baalu said, and added that his party would demand its rollback.
In a related development, the Kerala High Court asked Indian Oil Corporation and Reliance Petroleum to produce their balance-sheets and quarterly reports before it in three weeks.
Responding to a PIL by a former member of Parliament, Mr P. C. Thomas, a Division Bench, comprising the Acting Chief Justice, Mr C. N, Ramachandran Nair, and Mr Justice P. S. Gopinathan, observed that in the last one year there had been at least 40 per cent hike in petroleum products.
BJP, LEFT SLAM UPA
The hike is the result of the Government's “mismanagement”, BJP leader Mr L. K. Advani, said in Pune, noting that international crude prices were not going up the way fuel prices in the country were.
The Left parties also lashed out at the UPA and asked all their State units to launch nationwide protests.
“Government's deregulation of petrol pricing is responsible for fuelling hike of essential commodities and inflation,” the CPI (M) said.
The CPI Secretariat termed the hike “unjustified” and demanded immediate withdrawal.
In Kerala, the Congress-led Government demanded that the Centre takes back its powers to fix prices of petroleum products. The Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, said, “The Government is of the view that right to regulate price of petroleum products should vest with the Centre.”
The BJP Government in Karnataka ruled out slashing of cess on petrol and urged the Centre to roll back the hike. “I will write to the Centre urging it to roll back the hike,” the Chief Minister, Mr D. V. Sadananda Gowda, said.
The Punjab Chief Minister also demanded immediate withdrawal of the ‘unbearable hike”.