The suggestion that Cabinet Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee was not informed of the Centre's decision to increase the price of petrol was absurd, and it was not possible to mislead the people with such “political bluff,” Shyamal Chakraborty, president of the State unit of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), said here on Monday.
“There is a mutual understanding between the Trinamool Congress and the Centre. The Central government goes ahead with every decision and the Trinamool Congress raises no objections. At the same time, whatever the Trinamool Congress proposes to do in the State receives the support of the Centre,” said Mr. Chakraborty, who is also a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s central committee.
Ms. Banerjee had met Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee at the airport on the eve of the announcement of the hike in fuel prices and she claims that she was not informed about the decision. Can the people be fooled so easily, he asked.
“Does the Congress have the audacity to run a coalition government and not inform the second largest constituent of a decision like this?” Mr. Chakraborty said.
The letter written by Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and the Centre turning a blind eye to the links between the Trinamool Congress and the Maoists were examples of this understanding, Mr. Chakraborty added.
Demanding an immediate roll-back of the recent increases in fuel prices, the CITU observed a three-hour transport strike during the day.
“No struggle is without a result. The protests being held now will be transformed into a fence of resistance against the wrong policies of the UPA government,” Mr. Chakraborty said.
