After putting agriculture minister Sharad Pawar in the line of fire over rising prices, the Congress? trade union arm INTUC joined a rally with Left and BJP-backed labour outfits on the issue of inflation on Friday. INTUC chief and Congress Working Committee member G Sanjeeva Reddy also courted arrest along with other trade union leaders who attacked the government over price rise.
Reddy?s appearance at the workers? rally, organised jointly by all major trade unions, is seen as an attempt to distance himself and the INTUC from the government?s policies, which according to the opposition has fuelled inflation. ?The increasing prices of food articles have hit the workers very hard and curtailed their purchasing power,? he told The Indian Express. Asked for his views on the increase in customs and excise duties on petrol and diesel which led to a hike in fuel prices, he said: ?I agree that it will have an indirect effect on prices. But the fiscal deficit has to be decreased.? The Congress has already backed finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and has rejected demands for a rollback. At the rally, however, all trade union leaders attacked the government for the hike in the prices of petroleum products and charged it with failure in containing inflation.
While Reddy?s focus on the prices of food articles gel well with the Congress line?his party had earlier said that food prices fell squarely in the domain of agriculture minister Sharad Pawar?he also wanted to convey the INTUC?s unhappiness over disinvestment of profit-making PSUs and the delay in addressing some of the issues raised by it.
?I am not criticising the government politically. But we are opposed to some of the policies like disinvestment of profit-making PSUs. We are of the view that profit-making PSUs should not be disinvested,? the Rajya Sabha MP said. He did not hide his anger with the labour ministry as well.