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Parties flay petro prices hike New Delhi, November 5 The CPM said that the steep hike could have been avoided if the government had reduced duties on all subsidised petroleum products to zero per cent and the rest were fixed between zero to 5 per cent. It pointed out that due to the dismantling of the APM, the profits after tax of companies had soared. Without naming the company, the CPM said that “a major private refinery had also made huge profits with the increase in international oil prices. Instead of putting further burden on the common people, the impact of international price hike should have been absorbed by these companies”. The party also said that a hike in the LPG cylinder price by Rs 20 along with a monthly income of Rs 5 would “badly affect the living standards of millions of consumers” and the hike in diesel prices will have a cascading effect, contributing to the inflation spiral. The BJP termed the government’s decision to increase the prices of petroleum products as “inflation-filled Divali gift” to the people. The party said that while the government has been maintaining that it stood for “aam aadmi” (common people), its decisions were exerting burden on the common people. The issue will be discussed at the party’s upcoming National Executive on November 24. The Samjwadi Party said the government did not consult the party before deciding to execute a hike in the prices of petroleum products and it appeared as if the SP was providing “forced support” to the UPA government. “If we are not even consulted on such a vital issue which hits the poor of this country the hardest, then it looks like we are being forced to lend support to this alliance,” Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh told newspersons here. He said the government could have reduced the duty on import or finished it altogether so that this burden is not passed on to the poor man. “Our party is absolutely against this hike,” he said. “I hope the Left takes on the government over this issue. Where the benefit of the poor is at stake, parties should not play politics,” he added. Demanding a rollback in the prices of petroleum products, the CPI today cautioned the government it should not take the alliance partners for granted. “All Left parties oppose this steep hike. We want the government to reconsider this decision as it will negatively affect millions of people,” CPI leader D Raja said here. Asking the government not to take “unilateral decisions”, Mr Raja asked the government to heed their “reasonable advice”. Raising the prices of LPG will upset the family budget of millions of people, while the hike in diesel will have a cascading effect on the economy, he said. “We want the government to stay in office and perform. But if the
government fails to perform, the Left parties will not hesitate to fight and oppose the government.”  |
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