Left criticises fuel price hike

The Left parties today made it clear that they did not agree with the government's decision to hike the prices of diesel, petrol and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), but declared that there would be no knee-jerk reactions to the announcement just yet.

Protests from unexpected quarters were voiced against the hike. Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister and Congress leader D Rosiah said in Hyderabad the Centre should roll back the hike as it was against the interests of common people. Vaiko, president of the MDMK, an ally of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) said the hike was uncalled for.

Predictable criticism poured in from the Opposition""Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and the BJP.

The CPI made it clear that there was no question of withdrawing support to the government. CPI leader D Raja spoke to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today over telephone to register the Left's protest.

"I brought the concerns of the Left and the poor people to the Prime Minister's notice," Raja said.

The CPI(M) said the decision was unnecessary. But even Jyoti Basu went no further than announcing a "nationwide agitation" to protest the hike.

"There was no need to increase the prices. The Left parties will meet soon and decide the further course of action," CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury said.

"The CPI(M) has been urging the government to meet the hike in the international oil prices by reducing the Customs and excise duties on petroleum products," the party said.

After the dismantling of the administrative price mechanism (APM), the government had not delivered on the assurance of reducing duties on all subsidised petroleum products to zero, and keeping it between zero and 5 per cent for all other products, it added. "If this were done, there would not have been any need for increasing the prices," the party said.

"Having acknowledged that kerosene has not been touched, the party opposes the steep hike in oil prices," the CPI said in a statement.

The CPI(M) said instead of the common man, oil-rich companies should be asked to bear the burden of the hike. In a slightly different take from the CPI, it said not raising the price of kerosene was not a big concession since the fuel was not imported.

The Left parties are to meet "soon" to take a long view, as it were, on the issue. At this meeting, which would precede the UPA-Left coordination committee meeting scheduled for November 10, the Left leaders would chalk out a plan to get the government to review its decision, they said.