The West Bengal Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee whose, Trinamool Congress is a part of the ruling United Progressive Alliance at the center has also opposed the hike in fuel prices, saying that is will not be in the interest of the common man. The AIADMK in Tamilnadu has also demanded rollback of prices. The Samajwadi Party also held demonstrations against the hike in Uttar Pradesh.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati accused the centre of being indifferent to the suffering of the common man. The BSP chief said the price hike would pose an additional burden on the middle class and the poorer sections and demanded an immediate rollback.
The Left parties said the hikes come at a time “when the people are suffering from all round price rise and the inflation rate has crossed nine per cent”. They said the increase in diesel price would raise the transportation cost and affect farmers, while those in kerosene and LPG cylinders would hit the poor. In a joint statement, the parties said the withdrawal of five percentage points in customs duty on crude oil, imposed last year, “shows how such taxes are levied by the Centre to raise revenue and this is the main cause for the high prices of petroleum products”.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said Congress was ‘synonymous” with price spiral and whenever the party had come to power, prices of essential commodities had shot up.
Delhi Chief Minister Mrs. Sheila Dikshit has said that her government will examine some sort of relief for the common man.
The petroleum Minister Mr. Jaipal Reddy while justifying the fuel price hike, said it is minimal and was unavoidable. Speaking to mediapersons, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee expressed hope that the states will also reduce their Value Added Tax so that relief could be given to the consumer. The Prices of the Diesel were increase by three rupees per Litre, Kerosene by two rupees a Liter and cooking gas by 50 rupees per cylinder yesterday to reduce government’s subsidy burden.