Bengal parties fire salvoes over petrol prices
By IANSMonday, January 17, 2011
KOLKATA - Aiming to woo the masses ahead of the crucial state assembly elections, rival political parties in West Bengal Monday ran into a competition of protest rallies on the issue of the rise in petrol prices.
Protesting the latest hike in petrol prices, the Communist Party of India-Marxist’s (CPI-M) labour arm Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) called a three-hour public transport strike in West Bengal from noon.
CITU also organised a rally at the Metro Channel area in the city hub.
“The response across the state has been very good. People don’t want hike in petrol prices,” said Kali Ghosh, state general secretary of CITU.
The state’s main opposition and the ruling United Progressive Alliance’s major partner Trinamool Congress also held protest rallies and meetings across West Bengal to demand a rollback of petrol price hike and steps to control the escalating cost of essentials.
The party also held its central rally at the Metro Channel.
Trinamool Sunday said it was neither consulted nor has any discussion been held on raising the prices of petrol.
At the same time, Trinamool also took a dig at the state government for not doing its bit to control the price of petrol.
“The state government is also not doing its bit to control the price. Whenever there is a price rise, they blame the central government. But what are they doing within their perimeter to control the price hike?” asked Sudip Bandopadhyay, Trinamool’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha.
CITU’s Ghosh, however, rubbished the Trinamool’s argument.
“Earlier, in many cases the state government has done whatever it could do. And what kind of logic is this that every time the central government will increase the price and the state government will bear the loss?” said Ghosh.
With international crude prices surging towards the $100 per barrel (a barrel is 159 litres) mark, the three state oil-marketing companies Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, hiked their petrol price by Rs.2.50-Rs.2.54 per litre from midnight Jan 15.
The West Bengal assembly’s tenure expires in April this year.
