Political parties demand rollback of fuel price hike

Flaying the UPA government for the steep hike in fuel price, various political parties in the region have termed the move as ‘anti-people’ and demanded an immediate rollback of the increase.

Marching with gas cylinders, kerosene stoves and earthen chullas (stove), the Shiv Sena unit in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday staged a demonstration in the Rani park area in Jammu city against the increase in LGP, diesel and kerosene oil price.

Over 200 Sena activists led by State unit president Ashok Gupta raised anti-UPA slogans.

“The price rise in the past has already hit the financial backbone of the common man in the country,” Mr. Gupta said, adding that the government should roll back the price and his party would intensify protests in future over the issue.

Meanwhile, ruling Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab and main opposition INLD in Haryana have slammed the Centre for effecting “hefty and unwarranted” hike in fuel prices.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said the Congress-led UPA government “deliberately hastened the oil price hike as it feared that crashing crude price every day would leave no justification for diesel, kerosene and LPG price hike.”

He said the diesel price hike would have direct bearing on economy of farmers and commuters and have a cascading effect on inflation.

INLD’s secretary general Ajay Singh Chautala criticised the Centre’s move saying, “The step has once again exposed the anti-people face of the Congress. The hike would further increase inflation and common man would be directly affected.”

Terming the price hike as an act of ‘economic terrorism’, the BJP unit in Jalandhar in Punjab accused the Union government of trying to benefit the oil marketing companies at the cost of common man’s pocket.

“Government’s claim of standing with ‘aam aadmi’ is now well exposed. Its unfortunate that the UPA is more concerned about oil marketing companies than common man’s interests,” BJP leader and former state minister Manoranjan Kalia alleged.

In Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Katiyar said the fuel price hike would affect the middle and lower income groups.