The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Wednesday demanded that the government reverse its decision to deregulate petrol prices and criticised the move to cut prices on the eve of the winter session of Parliament
“The decision to cut petrol price by Rs. 2 on the eve of Parliament session is nothing but a poorly concealed ploy to deflect the widespread criticism of the failure of the government to check inflation,” the Polit Bureau said in a statement.
It said:
“Since July 2011, the price of petrol has gone up by Rs. 5, so it is still Rs. 3 higher than it was mid-year. Since the deregulated regime was imposed in June last year, the prices of petrol have gone up several times.
“Unless the government reverses its anti-people measure of deregulation of prices of petrol, made even more necessary because of the volatility of the international market, there can be no relief from the cascading impact of rising prices...”