Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Wednesday said petrol and diesel prices hike is a cruel way to recover what had been given in the form of a loan waiver earlier.
He further said that this was against the interests of the common man, his cabinet colleague Bikram Singh Majithia, Patron Youth Akali Dal and public relations minister went on to demand the resignation of economist duo Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister P Chidambaram for their stark failure to reign in spiraling inflation. He also demanded the resignation of Sonia Gandhi from Lok Sabha for her failure to check price rise.
Condemning the steep hike in the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG hitting the common man and farmers alike, Majithia said it was unfortunate that this hike in patrol price is aimed to benefit few handful multinational companies. It was a matter of regret that whole issue of patrol price hike campaign was organised by the Centre to favour few companies ignoring the hardship of crores of Indian citizens who were already reeling under the impact of record inflation. He also questioned the silence of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on the critical issue of price hike.
Questioning the rationale of fixing the price of patrol products in line with global price of crude, Majithia said the UPA government can not provide MSP of wheat and paddy at par with global rates, it has no right to charge diesel at global rates. He said with the price hike of petrol and LPG, common citizens will be hit hardest whereas diesel price hike will have maximum impact on farmers and transporters who are already neck deep in debt.
Seeking early dissolution of Lok Sabha and imposition of financial emergency on an early date Majithia said a government that can not protect the interests of the masses has no right to continue in office. The partner of Akalis in the Punjab government, the BJP too reacted sharply to the hike. Manornajan Kalia, Punjab industry and commerce minister said the UPA government has failed to check the inflation.