Announcing its intention to join the Bharat bandh called by the Left parties and the National Democratic Alliance separately against the hike in fuel prices, the Samajwadi Party on Thursday appealed to the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Lok Jan Shakti Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal to follow suit.
The RJD and the Bahujan Samaj Party, which support the UPA from outside, are planning separate protests on different dates along with the LJP, while the RLD has not revealed its cards yet.
The SP claimed that the bandh planned for July 5 brought about a “softening” of Opposition ties like it happened before the imposition of the Emergency in 1975, but admitted that unity was still “distant”.
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Party spokesman Mohan Singh, however, downplayed the role of the SP in bailing out the UPA government, by remaining absent during voting on the BJP and Left-moved cut motions on the Finance Bill in the Lok Sabha. “We boycotted as at the time nobody wanted to bring down the government. Those who moved the cut motions said the intention was to bring pressure on government against the hike in petrol and diesel prices and reforms in the fertilizer sector that would result in high prices,” he said.
Charging the Centre with increasing the fuel prices now without assessing the situation or taking the Opposition into confidence, Mr Singh said it would have a cascading effect on the prices of all commodities, adding to the woes of common people. “The government's failures on all fronts and its unjust attitude have forced the Opposition to take action.” If it continued to follow anti-people policies, the Opposition parties might unite once again.
Although the SP is supporting the UPA government from the outside, it is positioning itself against it on the issue of price hike to put down the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, which goes to the polls in 2012.
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