The decision to increase the prices of petroleum products was “uncalled for” and the government should withdraw it, Biman Bose, chairman of the Left Front Committee in West Bengal, said here on Monday.
Mr. Bose said, “The Left parties will be holding a meeting with the leaders of the parties other than the Congress and the BJP on Tuesday in New Delhi where they will decide the date for an all India strike. Whichever date is decided, the Left Front in West Bengal will ensure its success here and urge the people of the State to participate in the strike,” Mr. Bose told journalists after a meeting of the Left Front.
The government was shirking its responsibility in the way it was decontrolling the prices of petrol and was likely to do so for diesel – leaving it to speculators and the market forces. It would only lead to further escalation in the prices of essential commodities, Mr. Bose said.
On June 26, the State unit of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) called for a transport strike, protesting against the hike in petrol prices.
Asked whether holding two successive strikes on the same issue would cause inconvenience to people, Mr. Bose said the earlier transport strike was called by the CITU and not by the Left Front.
