In the wake of the bandh call given by Opposition parties, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said it was for the political parties to decide what mode of protest they prefer. This view is unlike petroleum minister Murli Deora?s, who dubbed the shutdown as unjustified.
Just a day before Opposition parties called a nationwide bandh, Mukherjee had echoed Deora?s views, saying there is no question of rolling back fuel prices.
?I am not interested if anyone is calling a bandh or not. What I can tell you… it is for the political parties to decide what mode of protest they will take,? Mukherjee said.
In accordance with the recommendations of the Kirit Parekh Committee, the UPA II government had ordered decontrolling of petrol prices. The move towards a market-determined fuel price regime resulted in an increase of Rs 3.50 per litre in the price of petrol. The government also hiked prices of diesel by Rs 2 a litre, of kerosene by Rs 3 a litre and cooking gas by Rs 35 per cylinder.
Meanwhile, CPI(M) central committee member and CITU state president Shyamal Chakraborty has said that information technology will not be kept out of the bandh?s purview.
?Fuel prices in India have no parity with international fuel prices. The price hike is aimed at filling coffers of the central government,? he said.
Speaking to reporters after a seminar organised by Assocham, Mukherjee said, ?I have no comments on it [bandh] and our Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president has already stated our party?s position regarding the bandh. In West Bengal, the Congress will not ask its supporters and workers to hit the roads on Monday opposing the bandh. ?We don?t want any violence,? said Manas Bhuiyan, newly-elected PCC president in the state.
