The Congress today stepped in to hold its alliance stock together even as the Parliament rocked over the issue of price rise once again. In two separate meetings, with party MPs and leaders of alliance parties, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee explained the reasons and circumstances that led to the decision to hike petrol and diesel prices.
But in both meetings, the finance minister made no commitment about a roll back in petro-prices. Nor did he take any questions
Taking a special class of the party MPs today, Mukherjee explained the salient features of the Budget and also told them why reduction in the excise duty on petroleum products could not be continued.
Later, the FM held a meeting with the allies on the issue of fuel price hike but almost made it clear that any rollback was impossible. He offered to hold a similar class for the MPs from the partner parties to explain the Budget and the petro-price hike issue in details.
Meanwhile, an angry Opposition, coupled with distant UPA allies like the Samajwadi Party and the RJD forced Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to adjourn the proceedings twice. As soon as the House commenced today, the entire Opposition stood up and started interrupting the proceedings. After an hour’s break, when the House reconvened at 12 noon, the same scene prevailed.
Mukherjee also pointed out that no new taxes had been imposed in the Budget and the government was expecting a GDP of around 8.5 per cent next year. He said, in this situation some measures were required to mop up more revenue.
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Congress president Sonia Gandhi is also expected to strongly back the Budget and accept the compulsions for a rise in petro-price. Mukherjee also met leaders of alliance partners like Trinamool Congress, DMK, NCP and IUML.
He offered the same explanations to them. “It was a short meeting. The government explained to the allies the rationale behind the decision,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said.