Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has condemned the hike in price of petrol saying the Centre’s argument that the price of crude oil in the international market has gone up is unacceptable.
In a statement here, she said though it was the wish of everyone that the Centre should not increase petrol price when there had been no increase in the crude oil price in the international market, the government went ahead with a hike on June 23.
“Now the government has decided to increase petrol price by 70 paise, citing increase in the crude oil price and fall in the value of the rupee.
“When the prices of essential items are skyrocketing, inflation is increasing and the rupee’s value is falling, the government has increased the petrol price instead of taking step to arrest the negative trend,” Ms. Jayalalithaa said.
The hike will add to the burden of the poor and the middle class, she added.
