Though the Trinamool Congress is opposed to the hike in prices of petroleum products and will continue to urge the Centre to reconsider it, party chief Mamata Banerjee came down strongly here on Sunday on the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and other Left parties for engaging in the “politics of bandhs.”
The Left along with other non-Bharatiya Janata Party and non-Congress parties have called for a 12-hour nationwide bandh on Monday in protest against the Centre's decision to raise prices of petrol, diesel, kerosene and LPG. The BJP also called a bandh on the day separately.
“Bandhs will not only worsen the economic crisis; a day's bandh means a huge loss of money. The exchequer in the State is being used for funding the CPI(M)….it has no right to keep destroying the economy of the State by calling bandhs repeatedly,” Ms. Banerjee said.
In principle the Trinamool Congress is opposed to Monday's bandh though it is also opposed to the price hike in petroleum products. “We will resist any forcible imposition of the bandh,” she added.
“We are an alliance partner [in the United Progressive Alliance government] with only 19 MPs and have repeatedly been telling the Centre that we cannot support the price hike…..The CPI(M) will be happy if we leave the government on the issue,” said Ms. Banerjee, who has been reiterating that her party would continue in the UPA government despite its opposition to the government's decision to raise fuel prices.
